Dragons: Trials of Berk
by Fragsey
Summary: This story is based on the How To Train Your Dragon Franchise, It explores the ongoing relationshop between Hiccup & Toothless and the other Humans and dragons. It starts as a flashback to events from the movie & Gift of the Night Fury from Toothless' viewpoint and is set after the events of Dragons: Riders of Berk - What Flies Beneath. If you like (or dislike) PLEASE COMMENT :)
1. Introduction

**:: DRAGONS: TRIALS OF BERK ::**

A fan fiction by Fragsey (Formerly Known as Empethree)

Based on the How To Train Your Dragon Film Series & Dragons: Riders Of Berk

(c) Dreamworks Animation & Cressida Cowell

For my fan art please see empethree on deviantart

_Please bear with me while i write this, Even though i have some of the plot lines planned, most of the content i tend to write on the fly as Ideas pop into my head. So paragraphs may sound a little repetitive, I will go back and correct them in time. I was never that good in English classes. lol _

_Please carry on reading past any parts that may be wrong at this time, I may of improved later on ;)_

_Characters (May change as I think up new ideas)_

_MAIN:_

_Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, Astrid Hofferson, Toothless The Night Fury, Stormfly the Deadly Nadder, Flus'Mord The Whispering Death_

_SUPPORTING:_

_Stoick The Vast, Gobber The Belch, Snot'Lout Jorgensen, Fishlegs Ingerman, Ruffnut & Tuffnut Thorston, Hookfang the Monstrous Nightmare, Meatlug the Gronkle, Barf/Belch the Zippleback. Nit'Zenga the Night Fury, Teremun the Terrible Terror  
_

_MINOR:_

_Valhallarama Haddock, Bucket, Mulch, Mildew, Dagna Haddock_

**:: Introduction ::**

"Here on Berk the weather is so "kind" to us that the only Fall we have is the fall in temperature, and the only spring is attached to the rest of my false leg. The rest of the time it is either winter and snowing or for a couple of months summer and raining. Stuck in the middle of nowhere

The only upside is that the people are friendly, mostly, and content, as content as can be when every morning your boots are frozen to the ground outside your door.

"It has got a little bit warmer in recent times, well it would when you have hundreds of fire breathing dragons around. Of all those dragons, one in particular stands out among the rest, for he is my best friend. He always looks out for me as I always do for him. I will always have Toothless by my side."


	2. Chapter 1 :: The Fury Of The Night

**:: Chapter 1 :: The Fury Of The Night ::**

_(Edit - Version 1 - Note - I re-read this chapter and have noticed too much repetition and errors, bear with me I will re-write when I get time)_

It was all quiet, Hiccup lay fast asleep in bed, his chest slowly rising up and down, his murmuring as he was dreaming woke up Toothless and he looked back at his sleeping friend. Usually Toothless would have been out of the window and up on the roof looking quietly out to sea, until the sun came up when without fail he would stamp about on the roof, dislodging a few tiles at the same time, much to Stoick's annoyment, waking up his best friend for their morning flight.

But in the last few weeks Toothless just did not have the enthusiasm for it, Hiccup had tried everything, he thought that Mildew may of planted some more of that cursed plant again and Toothless was sick, or that when the whispering death shot Toothless in the leg with a barb, he had poisoned him. Nothing he tried seemed to help and Toothless mainly kept out of Hiccups way, confusing Hiccup even more.

Toothless loved Hiccup more than ever, but the emotions running though his head scared him. He was ashamed of himself. How could he of done it to his best friend. He had shot a plasma bolt at him, and Toothless know that all he was trying to do was help him fight the Whispering Death. He had let his own selfishness endanger his most trusted friend. But he had to enact revenge on his adversary, and even though he had bested him this time, he had to let him go. He couldn't let him get away with what he had done, he had to keep his promise.

Toothless sighed, and turned away from Hiccup, no longer did he sleep on his nice heated rock next to Hiccups bed, he has moved into the rafters of the small wooden house. He then put his head back down on the rafter and stared out the window over the village out to sea. All the memories over the last few years came flooding back to him. He did not know much about his parents, who had named him Cha'Zor in his native tongue. They were killed during raid on the humans when he was small. Thats when a group of dragons came to his aid and took him in.

He grew up quickly, He was expected to engage in the dragon raids on Berk with the rest of the dragons, even though he didn't really want to, he was intelligent and he wished to do other things. He thought of peace with the humans. For he knew they only defended themselves. There had been far too much death. He never took part in stealing from them, that was wrong, but he owed it to the dragons who took him in, he would be the aerial dive bomber and he forfilled his duty to them well, his precision and intelligence sparing all unnecessary loss of life. When not raiding he had kept to himself and disappeared in on his quest. The other dragons left him be.

His quest for that Whispering Death had come to an abrupt end when he was shot out of the sky by someone that fateful night. He thought he would die a lonely and painful death, all without keeping his promise.

Thats when a small human came, and even though he was frightened, he kind of wished that the human would kill him, living with not forfilling his promise would have been more of a torture than a slow painful death. Then he saw the look in the humans eyes, he was also scared, but he was different to the other humans he had encountered. But he was still a human, one of his most feared enemies. He looked into the boy's eyes and their eyes met. Cha'Zor sensed intelligence in this one. If he was not about to kill him he sort of wished that he could of got to know more about him.

His impending death was near. Any second now the human would bring the knife down into his heart and the pain would be over. He laid back and closed his eyes, tears welling up for the chance lost. His mind wondered to his... but then then heard a gasp and then felt the ropes being cut. Anger welled up inside him. He was far too injured and Cha'Zor knew it, he would never fly again, he would probably die on this island, either killed when found by humans or of starvation. He felt the ropes round his legs and wings loosen, he pounced.

Everything in his body had screamed kill that boy now, he would probably tell the other humans he was here, and his fate would be a lot worse. As Cha'Zor bared down on him, again their eyes locked, again he saw that fierce intelligence, fear and what caught him off guard was wonderment in the boys eyes. He could not kill him, it was not his way. His anger waned, he let out a frustrated roar in the boys face and with tears starting to well up in his eyes he leapt of the boy and as best he could tried to get away from there. He had almost killed a human in sheer anger. What had he become. He settles down in a quiet cove and waited for the other humans to find him, he would be tortured and probably killed. He accepted his fate and was grateful that he had chosen this path and not just killed the boy.

Next afternoon, Cha'Zor tried to make himself more comfortable, his tail was in agony, he knew why he couldn't fly. His tail fin was gone. Painful wounds from the ropes criss-crossed his body. He settled on a rock. No other humans had come, Cha'Zor wondered, why didn't the boy tell his people straight away. He dozed off in the sun.

In his dreams thoughts of his quest came flooding back, he suddenly woke up.

He had to get out of here, he couldn't fly he knew, but there must be some other way. And besides he needed food, he had not eaten in a while. Desperately he tried again and again finally crash landing next to the pond he gave up. He notices there were fish in the pond, he lunged for one, but missed, the pain in his body was like fire. He couldn't even feed himself. He felt weak.

Then Cha'Zor knew it, his life was at an end. He quietly laid his head down on the grass intending to fall asleep and not wake up again. Suddenly a noise in front of him made him glance up, the boy was there. Fear welled up inside him, they had come for him. No hope of a peaceful death now. But the boy just looked frightened. If a group of humans were here with him surely he would nor be. He was alone. Why had he come back? Curiosity rose in Cha'Zor's mind. He could see the boy staring back at him in curiosity. Was he here in peace?

Cha'Zor couldn't sleep that night, his mind raced. He should be enemies with the boy, but yet he felt he had wanted to know more about him. His curiosity was stirred more when next day the boy had returned with a fish. Of course Cha'Zor was wary, but when the boy had discarded his weapon he knew that he had to know more about him, that and his stomach was rumbling like a dragon. He reached for the fish. The boy started to talk in his language, he wished he could fully understand his talk. The human word "toothless" clicked in his mind he guessed the boy was talking about his lack of teeth. It reminded him of a long ago memory with his parents. So the human thought he had no teeth. Boy would he show him, this would be funny!

Cha'Zor laughed to himself in his mind as he ate the fish, the look on that boy's face was priceless. It had been a long time since he had laughed. He had to thank the boy, a traditional way for the dragons was to share a good meal, and although he was very hungry, he needed to gain this boy's trust if he was going to learn more. He approached the boy and regurgitated half for the boy to eat.

It then hit him, maybe this would not be the way humans thanked each other, judging by what looked like to Cha'Zor as an uncomfortable look on the humans face. His sense of humour kicked in again. He would play this, for all it was worth, maybe humour was a concept Humans appreciated and not just dragons. This could be a gateway for finding a way to live in peace with the humans. He motioned for the boy to eat.

He had to laugh inside at the boys reactions, but he had to go though with it, he motioned to swallow. He could tell by the boys face that he really did not like what he was eating, so Cha'Zor mirrored his distaste in a joking way. Something weird was happening with the boys mouth. Cha'Zor sensed happiness and guessed unlike dragons who used various appendages on their body to show emotion, humans showed happiness with their mouths, weird. He was right, humans did appreciate humour after all. He was still wary of the human, and it seemed the human was of him as well. But Cha'Zor was tired and needed sleep, his lack of food and his injuries meant he was still tired. The boy came over to him and had tried to touch him just as he started to drift off, which annoyed him a bit, but he found a quiet spot to hang from and managed to fall asleep

If seemed like a few hours had passed, and Cha'Zor was content. For some reason for the first time in a long time he felt happy. He could hear a rustling and opened his eyes. He was not expecting the boy to still be here, did the boy want to spend time with him? And what was he doing, he walked over to where the boy was sitting. He was using a stick to scrape the earth, as he watched his curiosity turned to amazement, staring back at him in the dirt was another night fury. It reminded him of his own father. How did humans do this? He had to give it a go so he had grabbed a stick from a nearby tree and started to scrape lines into the earth. He could see why humans did this, it was fun. The boy had started to step round and though the drawing, careful not to step on the lines as Cha'Zor had jokingly warned him when he stepped on the lines. He was too busy laughing to himself to notice the boy almost bump into him.

The boy reached out to touch him. For a brief moment fear crossed Cha'Zor's mind, he had not let anyone apart from a select few touch him since an incident in the past, but the boy persisted. Why did he do that, was it a human thing as well for touch to show friendship and even love? He reached with his snout back at the boy and they touched. A feeling of euphoria filled Cha'Zor. Wow... had me made a human friend?

The next day Cha'Zor woke up early. He hoped the boy would visit again, he found he actually really liked him. He was overjoyed when the boy showed up again, with a large basket of fish, and was understanding in his fear of eels.

The boy had used the word "toothless" to greet him, so the boy had given him a nickname, a concept not alien to dragons, and fitting as his mother had called him "Tael'kas" as a pet name as a child, one of his rare memories of them. Tael'kas in his native tongue meant "one with no teeth" For young night furies didn't get their teeth until their 2nd year, and Cha'Zor was a late bloomer, not getting his until after his 3rd birthday, thus the name.

He liked this human's name for him, and did not mind it appealed to his wicked sense of humour. He was well known among dragons as the comedian of the group. He found he liked this new name more than his own and in tribute to his parents decided he would be called Toothless to his friends from now on.

Toothless was even more amazed with the boys intelligence, he had made him a new tail. This was humbling to Toothless. Rarely had he been given anything, they had taken a brief flight together, though amusingly the boy didn't actually know he was about to fly.

As the days went on Toothless found himself enjoying more and more the company of the young boy who he found to be called Hiccup in the human tongue. Even though he could not understand the tongue of the humans, he found he understood what Hiccup meant. He was amazed by Hiccup's understanding of him and his ability to help control his flight. A few shaky attempts had meant a few bumps along the way, but after a terrifying dive Hiccup had mastered it, and for the first time realization hit Toothless. This human who a few days ago was a sworn enemy by the dragons, had given him one of the greatest gifts in his life. He returned to him the gift of flight, and although he knew that it would mean he would have to rely on Hiccup, he would do anything for him to repay this gift.

Again toothless was truly happy, he knew that he could not longer raid the humans, and that was fine with him. But happiness again turned to fear when another human, this time a female discovered them. She threatened to expose his and Hiccups relationship and that would be the end for him, and probably Hiccup too. He could not let that happen. But again to his amazement, yet another human turned out to become a friend. Who would of thought Humans could be so caring and loving, not their reputation of violent and evil, especially as the female, who he learned was called Astrid kissed Hiccup. He knew from the looks on their faces, a look that he recognised for the past, humans were capable of love. Toothless wondered if all what dragons knew of humans was wrong.

It turned out that he was right, he had been captured by the humans when he went to return the favour to Hiccup when he was in danger of being killed by a Monstrous Nightmare. An though at first he was treated harshly by the other humans he found that humans could live with dragons, as when during the battle with the monstrous Red Death, he was amazed to see other dragons, even that Monstrous Nightmare being flown by Astrid, Hiccup and other young humans. And what he thought was the Human's leader, Stoick saved Hiccup and himself from drowning. Together they had killed the Red Death, a dragon who had enslaved the rest of the dragons and was universally hated by them.

Toothless had discovered dragons and humans were actually only fighting each other because of what the Red Death had done. It was a chance for peace, and in the process he had found that he couldn't live without Hiccup, he had become a central part of his life. He risked his life for Hiccup as he knew Hiccup had risked his too, they were now pretty much blood brothers. The humans found this new revelation amazing and a lot of dragons took up the humans offer to live among them, and Toothless has come to live with Hiccup,

Their relationship became so solid that he didn't see Hiccup as his master, but more of his equal, and he knew Hiccup thought the same. He would always be with Hiccup, even when Hiccup made him an automatic tail fin, even though it was a great gift, toothless did not feel the same while flying with it. He missed the partnership he and Hiccup had while flying, when together they were as one. And he found it boring just flying on his own. His most exciting flights ever were with Hiccup, not just flying to wage war, to get from one place to another, but flying with hiccup was for the sheer enjoyment.

Toothless thoughts then came back to the present and he sighed again. What was he to do, he could not leave Hiccup and yet he could not break such a fundamental promise. Thoughts racked his brain and overwhelmed him. Toothless again looked once more into the village, his best dragon friends he had also just met over the final battle were also here in the village, they also looked up to him as a leader. And he was close to them. Although it was not unknown for each species of dragon to be friends, it was unusual for them to be close friends. The other dragons, Stormfly the Deadly Nadder, Meatlug the Gronkle, Hookfang the Monstrous Nightmare and Barf'Belch the Hideous Zippleback. He could not leave them either, they and their riders were a team, and a good one at that. It was all too much for Toothless, with thoughts racing in his head, Toothless closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

**:: END OF CHAPTER ONE ::**


	3. Chapter 2 :: ASTRIDe a Dragon

:: CHAPTER TWO :: ASTRIDe a Dragon ::

(Edit - Version 2)

It was another cold morning, the first rays of sun were appearing over the horizon and the rest off the village were mostly also still tucked up in bed, it had just started to snow again. Astrid and Stormfly were doing their best keeping the pathways clear, and trying not to accidentally set fire to anything. Astrid really liked being woken up early by Stormfly, unlike some of the other of the Berk Dragon Academy, who usually needed a little coaxing. She loved the quietness, it gave her time to think. Quite often they were joined by the only other early risers of the BDA, Hiccup and Toothless. She loved flying with them, and though Astrid wouldn't admit it to others, she loved being with Hiccup.

Just to think a few short moths ago she disliked him as being weak and useless. And although he was still physically weak, he was now one of the bravest people that she knew. He thought differently, and usually got results. It was something that was loved about him by herself and Stormfly. He and toothless had single handed enabled change in their world for the better. They were all hailed as heroes by most, But away from all the adulation they got, their morning flights gave them a chance to talk and be themselves. They had gottn the occasional sly glances from their dragons, but she knew they were both loyal to their riders and they would not tell.

Over the last few weeks she had missed having her best friends at their morning meetings, Astrid worried about Hiccup and Toothless. Hiccup still wanted the flights but no matter what he did, Toothless was just not himself anymore. She had tried Taking toothless out herself and with her as rider he was enthusiastic and responsive. With Hiccup lately he had seemed distant and confused. She couldn't understand what the problem was between them and it pained her to see Hiccup's sadness.

The morning de-icing being over Astrid gently stroked Stormfly's cheek. "Come on girl, lets go and see if we can get some breakfast." Stormfly nodded her head and made a cooing sound and they started to head for Mulch's house, he made a mean breakfast.

Stormfly was also worried about toothless. In the dragon culture he was also hailed a hero, along with the other dragons and all their riders. She was proud of that and had become fast friends with Toothless. To her he was a role model and showed the dragons that the humans were much like them. Humans had the same emotions, the same love for family and friends and intelligence. Before the dragons thought of them of dumb savages, and Toothless showed them all that dragons and humans were compatible as friends.

Stormfly had been one of the first to embrace the idea, as Hiccup had shown them they could be trusted and the humans were loyal to their dragons. Some of the other dragons thought of their human more like a pet, a bit like Hookfang, but Stormfly loved Astrid as a companion and she knew they would be together for life. She saw that same bond with Hiccup and Toothless and what was happening lately frustrated her. Her role model was taking a dive into the sea it seemed.

On the way to Mulch's they needed to fly past Hiccup's place, they looked expectantly hoping to see them up in the air, but alas Toothless was nowhere to be seen. Stormfly let out a small cry, and motioned towards the ground, where Astrid saw Hiccup sitting on the grass outside, his head in his hands. Pain shot through Astrid's heart. She hated seeing him like this. His usual sarcastic and humorous self had given way to misery and despair.

"Come on Stormfly, lets see if we can cheer him up" she scratched Stormfly on the muzzle as they headed in to land. "Hey Hiccup, want to come for breakfast?" Hiccup looked up, his eyes red. Had be been crying? They landed gently next to him.

"Er... oh... Hey Astrid, Hi Stormfly" Stormfly gently nuzzled Hiccup and let out a mournful sound. Hiccup quickly wiped his eyes "Thank you Stormfly" Astrid slid off Stormfly and sat down next to Hiccup.

"How are you this morning, you look awful!" she put her arm round Hiccup's shoulder.

"Oh yeah thanks Astrid, thanks that really helps" he gave a small smile "You always know how to make a person feel better"

Astrid gave a short giggle "It's good to see your famous Hiccup sarcasm is back, I was starting to miss it. Anyway how is Toothless this morning?" She pulled herself closer to him in support"

"To be honest, I do not know. He usually wakes me up but in the last couple of weeks I have had to wake him up. This morning he just looked at me sadly, groaned and turned away and just laid there." Astrid frowned and hugged closer to Hiccup. Stormfly made a sad groan and again nuzzled him. "I do not know what to do Astrid, I have tried everything, I do not know what I have done to make him hate me." A tear came to his eye and he wiped it onto the back of his hand "I am loosing my best friend"

Astrid reached out and caressed his face "He doesn't hate you Hiccup, I guess dragons are a lot like people, they have their moods, I am guessing he is having bad week or two, maybe something is bothering him, maybe he has something wrong with him. Just like when Hookfang had that toothache, maybe Night Furies respond in a different way to pain. Has Gobber checked him over?"

Hiccup Sighed "Yes I took him to Gobber yesterday and he could not find anything wrong, we adjusted his saddle and checked his tail fin and the metal work for signs of wear or something causing him pain. It was all fine."

Astrid frowned "Well there has got to be something wrong, I saw Mildew scowl at Toothless on Monday and Toothless didn't growl at him once."

A small smile crept across his face "Yeah that would be Toothless" Worry crept onto his face again "What if he never returns to his normal self again. I still love Toothless, it feels like a part of me is missing, well in addition to my leg that is"

Stormfly made a little chuckling sound and Astrid and Hiccup both looked at each other and burst out laughing. Astrid hugged him. "Nice one Stormfly, so how about we get that breakfast? Mulch has got some bacon in."

"I'm not sure, I should really wait for Toothless. In case he needs to find me. I can't leave without him"

Astrid took his hand. "Do not worry, Toothless is an amazing dragon, if he needs to find you he will, and besides all Toothless has to do is follow the bacon." She flashed her adorable smile at him and he sighed and gave her one of his looks and then relented.

Astrid climbed aboard Stormfly and he jumped on behind and they took off. She leaned forward and whispered something into the dragons ear. Stormfly all of a sudden shot up into the air and headed away from Berk and up into the clouds. Hiccup screamed in shock and grabbed hold of Astrid tight. "Er... where are we going, Mulch's house is back in the village. Where are you taking me?"

She patted the dragon who gave her a wink back. "Oh once upon a time I was minding my own business, well sort if minding my own business, er, actually I was spying on you but that is not the point here. Anyway I was scared and confused and all of a sudden a certain someone had their dragon snatch me up and scare the living daylights out of me..." Astrid grinned. "NOW STORMFLY!"

All of a sudden Stormfly barrel rolled and started a steep dive towards the sea, halfway down starting to cork screw. Hiccup let out a loud wail. "Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy...Arrrrrrghhhhhh" The dragon all of a sudden changed direction and then sharply pulled up and looped the loop a couple of times and then dived underwater span round and shot back up into the sky and disappeared into the clouds "Why are you doing this?"

Astrid laughed "Well for one, I never did get payback for you "kidnapping" me and two, for this..." She nudged the Dragons side and Stormfly gave a loud roar and levelled out. They floated slowly among the clouds. Astrid looked back at Hiccup "Anyway I would of thought you are used to this kind of speed by now"

He gave her an incredulous look "I thought we were over that by now, and yes, I am used to speed but at least give me some warning before you do that. Why have you brought me up here?"

Astrid laughed "Because I can, and when you did it to me, you changed me. Floating up here this high made me appreciate who we are, where we live and the dragons too. It is so beautiful, I felt so at peace up here, and what a great place to be alone with someone I care deeply about."

Hiccup looked puzzled "Don't you come up here with Stormfly all the time?"

She gave him a grin "I don't mean Stormfly this time, sorry girl, I mean you Hiccup. I care a lot for you and er.. all my friends.. of course." Her cheeks flushed red "Anyway I want to help you, not only with toothless but with yourself as well. You have been moping around for the last week and I thought I could cheer you up!"

Hiccup smiled hugged her from behind and rested his head on her shoulder "Thanks Astrid, you are a dear friend" She smiled at his embrace. "I really needed it" He closed his eyes and Astrid rubbed his arm affectionately as he fell asleep.

They flew though the clouds for hours and in his sleep Hiccup kept gasping. Astrid was worried for her friend. Now she knew why lately he always looked tired. She looked back at him sadly. She tousled his hair. "My poor Hiccup, I wish you could tell me what is up with Toothless." She sighed and looked forward again and rubbed Stormfly's cheek. The dragon nuzzled up against her hand and she smiled to herself. A feeling of pride welled up inside her. Here she was up in the clouds with the two things she held dearest.

Deep down she knew that she was falling for Hiccup, but did not want to admit it to herself. What if he did not feel the same. She feared rejection and did not know why. Astrid was brought up to be tough and hard. All those long hard training sessions she had learned and been told to temper down her feelings. What was she so scared of?

Somehow when they were together her feelings fought to the surface and she was confused. Astrid was supposed to be a warrior, what would the other vikings think of her, Should she carry on bottling up her emotions, should she just tell Hiccup how she felt?

A feeling of guilt flushed over her. "Why am I even thinking this" the thought to herself. "Why am I being so selfish, he has other things on his mind right now, far more important things." She looked to the horizon and the sun was starting to set. They had been up there all day, her stomach reminded her about that morning of wanting to get breakfast and of the fact that they had not eaten all day.

Astrid chuckled to herself and tapped Stormfly on the head. "I think we have missed breakfast" the dragon seemed to nod in agreement and chuckle. "Come on girl I think it's time to head back." Stormfly made a sharp turn to head back towards Berk. Hiccup stirred slightly at the sudden movement but was was still fast asleep. She looked back at him once more noticing how peaceful he looked and found herself blushing. Astrid thought to herself how cute he actually was. The revelation struck her and she forced herself to look away.

Anger rose in her, anger at herself, anger at the other teenagers, Anger at the rest of the village. Why had they treated him so badly. Her mind wandered back through the years to her childhood. Hiccup had always been different as long as she remembered. She smiled to herself as her childhood memories flooded back.

Her mother has been great friends with Valhallarama, Hiccup's mother. Back then when the rest of the small children were playing with toy swords pretending to kill dragons, she often used to accompany her mother on her visits to their house. While the adults drank herbal teas and feasted, she would be sent upstairs to play with him.

She remembered their first meeting well. The first time she remembered entering the Horrendous Haddock household. She chuckled to herself as she thought back at how big and scary Stoick was, and she hid behind her mother when he came towards her. She remembered Stoick's hearty laugh at that. He was the legendary warrior of the Hairy Hooligans, and all the children told stories about him being mean and tough. In all truthfulness he was gentle and calming and it wasn't long before she was bouncing on his knee giggling uncontrollably. Her memory was hazy of those days and she was forced to remember. The revelation hit her hard, back then she was just like him.

And then she saw him. A small boy sitting playing with bits of metal in the corner. At first she thought he was another one of these kids playing with a sword, boooring! She remembered him putting those bits of metal together. Astrid was shy back then, as the other kids teased her for being weak and being a girl. She cautiously approached him. "H... hello... um... my name is Astrid. What are you doing?"

He looked round at her and smiled, "I am building a dragon" he looked at her with wide expectant eyes. She remembered how intelligent he looked even as a small child.

"What is your name?" She asked him sweetly

"My name is Hiccup and I am four." he continued trying to piece the bits of metal together.

"Thats a funny name" Astrid laughed "I beat you, I am four and a half" The boy dropped the bits of metal, turned away and started to cry.

Astrid's mother came over, "ASTRID, WHAT IN ODIN'S NAME DID YOU DO TO HIM"

Astrid started to cry. "I'm sorry, I only said his name was funny, I didn't mean to make him cry"

With a look of thunder on her face Astrid's mother yelled "WELL YOU APOLOGISE THIS INSTANT, I HAVE BROUGHT YOU UP BETTER THAN THAT, ON THE NAME OF THOR"

Hiccup looked up at her, and stopped crying, he would of usually got a sarcastic apology from one of the other children, usually followed by a tongue poked out at him. Her reaction made confused him. He wiped the tears from his eyes. She was crying hard now. He reached out and put his arm round her. "It's ok do not cry, it is sort of a funny name, would you like to play with me?"

Astrid stopped crying looked up with her tear stained face, and smiled. "I am sorry Hiccup, I did not mean to make you cry" Small sobs still punctuating her sentence.

Stoick came over to them. "Hiccup have you finished building that sword yet, you have building that for ages, it still does not look like much of a sword to me son"

Hiccup frowned, "It is not a sword daddy, it is a dragon...rawr!"

Astrid laughed, "Rawr... hee hee"

Stoick chuckled "What am I do do with you son, you are four now, you should be playing games with the other children with your sword, and yet you build dragons. Odin almighty, you should really grow out of this"

A sad look crossed Hiccup's face and he looked at the floor. Valhallarama came over and slapped Stoick on the back of the head. "Stoick, he is four, he is a child. So what if he wants to build dragons instead of fight, he has plenty of time to learn to fight yet, he is your son and is destined to be the best fighter of all of Berk, give it a couple of years and he will be out fighting the other children like there is no tomorrow."

Astrid also looked sad. She didn't like fighting. She hoped to grow up and be an artist. She loved drawing and colouring things. She had seen Bucket paint various pictures around town after he came back from a raid a changed man. Like most of the other girls she wanted to get married and be a good wife, but painting, that is what she wanted to do more than anything. She found herself absent mindedly scribbling in the dust on the floor.

Hiccup was watching her. "Do you want to come up to my room we can draw dragons" he grinned at her. She looked at him and thought he was cute, with his big round eyes and messy hair.

They continued to play with each other for the next few years. She cried with him when his beloved mother did not come back from a dragon raid. She was beside him at the passage of death ceremony in the great hall holding his hand. Then the teasing began. She remembered how all the other children started laughing at Hiccup calling him names and pushing him to the ground. He tried to fight back, but he was no fighter. She begged them to stop, but they started to pick on her too. "Hiccup and Astrid sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G" they used to chant. A few times she got mad and pushed the other children to the ground. The only thing that seemed to happen was that they picked on Hiccup even more. This made her even more determined to fight them, if Hiccup couldn't.

One sunny day, she and hiccup were sitting on a rock on the top tier of the village, it was his 8th birthday. He was his usual optimistic self. Astrid admired him. The whole village seemed to treat him bad, yet he always seemed to be happy. He always seemed to manage to get in the way of the villagers day to day business. He only seemed to get respect from her and Gobber and even he teased him at times.

He had asked her that morning why they were friends, why didn't she want to go and play with the other children. Astrid could not answer him truthfully, for she did not know why. All she could reply was "You are different from the other children, they just want to fight dragons all the time, that's boring. We do exciting things, and knowing you, you would probably end up doing somethings stupid, like riding one."

He laughed, "Yeah like that could happen. I would be eaten alive!" She smiled shyly back at him. He went to put his hand around her, when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. Tears came to his eyes, he turned round just to get another rock hit him directly in the face and bloody his nose. He got up screaming and crying ran back to his house.

Astrid spun round to see Snotlout, sniggering with the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Anger rose in her. She marched up to them. "Who dares do that to my friend." punching her fist into her hand.

Both Ruffnut and Tuffnut pointed to Snotlout and backed off. Snotlout sneered at her. "Aww, did we hurt your boyfriend, did he go running off to mummy, oh yeah, he has not got one anymore, she was too weak like him."

This taunt shocked her, how could he say that about Hiccup and his mother, someone she loved almost as much as her own mother. The red mist descended and with tears in her eyes and a angry yell she ran for Snotlout, And leaped on him. And pummelled him over and over, she could barely see him through her tears and could barely hear him scream until she was pulled off him by her father. Snotlout immediately leaped up and ran back towards his house crying like a baby.

"ASTRID, YOU KNOW THE RULES OF FIGHTING IN THE VILLAGE, NOW GO HOME"

"But Dad, he made fun of Hiccup's Mo..."

"ASTRID, I won't tell you again, To the house now."

With tears running down her cheeks she slowly walked home followed by her father. Astrid had beaten Snotlout, probably one of the strongest kids in the village. It felt good, she did not know why. He deserved it. She hated fighting but even has to admit to herself that she actually enjoyed that. She slipped in though the door just as Stoick intercepted her father.

"I'm sorry Stoick, I don't know what has gotten into her, she knows the rules about fighting in the centre of the village."

Stoick looked thoughtful "Aye, it's to be expected though, they are growing up, they soon will be taking on the dragons for the first time just like we did many years ago. I have to admit though your Astrid does have fire in her belly. She will be ready soon"

Winter came around and it was her 10th birthday. Astrid was waiting at the cliff overlooking the dock for the latest dragon raid to come home. Her beloved uncle was due back any second. She was excited, she loved hearing all the stories of the dragons and how he had single handed taken them down. By her side as usual, was Hiccup, much to the glee of the other children who kept whispering and sniggering behind them. It was only the presence of Gobber that stopped them from teasing and bullying them.

He reached for her hand, she moved it away and he looked down sadly. "Not now Hiccup, not with them watching." she looked back out to sea to see the ships rounding the bay, she ran down the slopes as fast as she could, hiccup could not keep up with her. Astrid reached the main dock, and her smile slowly faded, there were only three ships, there should have been seven. Her heart skipped a beat. Where was her uncle's ship? Not to worry, he probably managed to get onto one of the remaining ships, she forced a smile back onto her face, just as Hiccup caught up to her again.

He looked shocked. "Woah, there are only three ships, and look at the damage on them! Looks like we have lost a lot of our men again"

Astrid turned to him with an astounded look on her face "You think? My uncle is on one of those ships remember."

Fear crossed her face and Hiccup realised what he had said. "Er.. arr... ok. I am sure you uncle is fine, I mean he is one of the finest warriors in the Hairy Hooligans, he'll be fine, I promise"

She shot him a look and Hiccup put her arm around her. Her face was pale as she watched the men slowly disembark from the ships. Most of them were injured, some had lost limbs. The men slowly filed past, the forced smile slowly dropping away at each passing man. When finally Stoick disembarked off the remains of his tattered ship. He silently walked towards the pair and Astrid shot him a questioning look. Pain and sadness filled Stoick's face as he slowly shook his head and slowly walked past them looking stunned.

Astrid fell, and Hiccup caught her. He tried to put his arms around her and hold her, to comfort her and be there for her. She pushed him away. She screamed at him "You Promised, You promised he would be okay."

He tried to grab hold of her again, all he wanted to do was comfort her. "Astrid, I am so sorry, please..."

She pushed him hard, he fell, smacking his head on the ground. "You lied to me, leave me alone." She ran, ran as as she could away from him.

A few days later was the time for the passage of death ceremony, one of many that week. Hiccup wanted more than anything to be as Astrid's side, but they had not spoken since and he was uncomfortable. She looked back and saw him hanging around the back and smiled at him. At the end of the ceremony he approached her and gave her a hug.

"I am so sorry Astrid, I am stupid, you know that. I can never seem to get my words out right"

She smiled at him "Yeah, you always seem to put your foot into it"

Hiccup smiled. "Maybe one day I shall learn to think before I speak. And maybe one day we will have peace with the dragons so we do not keep having to have this happen."

Anger filled Astrid's face "Peace, there can never be peace while those beasts still breathe, if I see a dragon I will rip out it's heart, just like it's done to mine. I shall kill every one I see"

Shock filled Hiccups face "Astrid, but fighting, that's not you, that's why I..."

Rage filled her face and she smacked him in the face, leaving him sprawled on the floor "I am not like you Hiccup, I am a REAL viking, not some short and weak kid, I will show you what it means to be a Viking." She game him one last glance and left him sprawled on the ground.

They never really spoke much after that. Astrid had blanked Hiccup whenever he approached and started playing with the other kids. The raids of the village increased and eventually they all reached their teens and found even Hiccup wanted to kill dragons, but he remained small and weak. With all of the long training and fighting she had soon forgotten about their previous friendship. She trained within her training group hard in order to earn a place in the dragon fighting academy, with the top of the class earning the honoured right to kill one of the most fearsome dragons, the Monstrous Nightmare. She soon was fighting her way to the top of her training group, until the day when they were given a place. Astrid was dumbfounded to find that Hiccup somehow also managed to earn a place, no-one had ever saw him train, even once.

The other teens always found and excuse to tease and bully him, although she never had the heart to join in with them, though never failed to give him a piece of her mind when he messed up. Then all of a sudden, Hiccup was rising through the ranks and Astrid found something that she had never experienced before, jealousy. How dare he, she was much better than him and vowed to find out how he was getting so good, and to take him down by any means possible.

She followed him one day to a small cove in the woods. He was acting strange. Anger overtook her and demanded to know what was happening, nobody gets that good that quickly. Astrid was a different person know and had actually tried to beat the truth out of him, and would of probably succeeded if it not for one small factor, Toothless.

The dragon had come to his aid. He had befriended a Night Fury of all things. Befriending any dragon had to be treason, but a Night Fury, the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself the legend had said. That was the worst sin anyone could do. This was her chance to take down Hiccup. He would be gone for good and the honour of killing the Monstrous Nightmare would be hers.

But somehow the Night Fury had kidnapped her as she went to put her plan into action and alert the village. She managed to find herself riding the dragon, and she found herself in awe of Hiccup and the dragon. Astrid was falling for Hiccup again. He had given her the best gift of all. He had given her the truth about dragons.

He thoughts came back to the present. Astrid found herself sick to the stomach. She realised that she had had a crush on Hiccup all along, and that she had betrayed him, her best friend, in the worse way possible. He always had looked out for her and realised he had always been there for her and how had she paid him back. By totally forgetting about their childhood friendship, being so taken in with fighting and revenge.

Astrid knew what needed to be done. Now was the time she paid back that friendship and did all that could be done to help Hiccup and Toothless. Maybe then their relationship could move forward...

All of a sudden where was a tap on her shoulder.

"Er.. Astrid, I don't know what you are thinking about, but you may want to bring yourself back to the real world before we crash into that cliff" Hiccup had one of his sarcastic looks on his face.

"Woah... er... Sorry." With a hefty tug on the reins and Stormfly pulled up sharply. Astrid knew that Stormfly would not of let them crash, but realised she had been so deep in thought that they had flown right past Berk. How long had he been awake?

"Dragon rule number one: Always keep your eyes on the sky when in control of a moving dragon. Dragon rule number two: Never fly on an empty stomach. Now where was that breakfast you promised me THIS MORNING?" Hiccup grinned.

Astrid laughed as they turned and dived towards Berk.

:: END OF CHAPTER TWO::


	4. Chapter 3 :: A Little Hiccup

:: CHAPTER THREE :: A Little Hiccup ::

The evening was a cold one again, bonfires and braziers were ablaze across the village, thanks to the various dragons. Inside the Hairy Haddock house the fire was warming. The main torches were not lit so just the pleasant orange light from the hearth danced across the walls.

When Hiccup had arrived back at the house with Astrid in tow, Stoick jumped up said that he needed to "Sort out some, er... business with ...um... whatsis name and er... his... thing." He had winked to his son and abruptly left the two alone with Toothless. From the laughter heard all the way from Gobber's house, that business was probably to do with helping his friend empty a barrel.

Hiccup was preparing one of his favourite meals for his guest and he was proud. Toothless sniffed longingly at the cauldron and licked his lips excitedly as hiccup stirred the contents. "Don't worry bud there will be some for you as well, me and Astrid cannot eat the whole lot. And there will be enough for Dad when he comes home" Toothless grunted and looked through the window and motioned to Stormfly outside. "And yes, there will be enough for Stormfly too" Hiccup rubbed the dragon's head, he was always thinking about others, that was what made Toothless so special.

The dragon was taking up a fair proportion of the cooking area and Hiccup found he kept having to shoo the dragon back and forth and clamber over him to reach the ingredients he had laid out. Every so often a giggle would be heard when Astrid, who was engrossed in the Book of Dragons, looked up at them with all the commotion. "Toothless, why don't you just wait by the table." the dragon just grunted and stayed put, still sniffing away. Hiccup sighed and frowned at the Night Fury. To be happy he was kind of happy the dragon was spending time with him for a change "Ok Ok, just give me some room then, this recipe has to be perfect." he moved close to the dragon and whispered into the dragon's ear. "And besides, out of me and Astrid I am better to cook, just remember "yak-nogg'" Toothless reared up and a look of disgust crossed his face.

Toothless remained impatiently by the cauldron. His tail whipped back and forth and caught a bowl full of spices and a jug of water, which fell onto the cooking fire "TOOTHLESS!, I told you to be careful, I know you are hungry, we all are" the dragon looked down sadly at the spices over the floor and the now dying fire. "This meal has got to be special, please don't ruin it!" Toothless fired a plasma bolt into the fire and it roared back into life. The dragon gave a mournful groan and turned away and walked towards the stairs.

"Toothless, i'm sorry bud, I didn't mean to yell." he shouted after the dragon, who growled back and ascended the stairs. A look of sadness crossed Hiccup's face, Toothless usually would of just pulled a face back at him and all would have been forgiven. What was wrong with his friend?

He felt an arm round his shoulder as Astrid comforted him. "I'm worried about him too Hiccup, he has not been himself around you for awhile now. You have not changed your aftershave have you?"

"That is not really funny Astrid." The cute smile on her pretty face soon made a smile spread across his. "Well ok, maybe I should stop wearing Eu-de-Yak!" And they both burst into laughter. The smile slowly faded from Hiccup's face. Tears welled up in his eyes, "I can't seem to do anything right lately. I have failed my friend."

Astrid hugged him tenderly and then cupped his face in her hands. "Now you look here. You are best friend possible to toothless, and he knows it. You need to give him some time. He probably has something on his mind." She kissed him on the cheek. "You are a great friend to me, you have helped me so much. You have given me a gift and I..er... …..er... cherish your friendship more than anything in this world. To think just a short time ago I didn't really like you, well none of the village actually did truth be told..."

Hiccup rolled his eyes "Please don't remind me... I..."

"Hiccup, don't you see that you are now the most popular person in the village, you risked everything for your loyalty. And Toothless knows that, and he appreciates it. You have touched everyone you have met, dragon, human, animal. By Thor's name I bet you have even touched Mildew. Even if to wind him up! The village has never been truly happy, it always lived in constant fear and worry. Now everyone has smiles on their faces, chat with each other in the street, relax at the inn. YOU have rebuilt this village into a fantastic place to live for us all.

A tear ran down Hiccup's cheek. He had not thought of what he had accomplished. It overwhelmed him. He was humbled, but Astrid was right. The village was happy, parties were often held, festivals had popped up, and an Inn was built for the first time in generations. The farms and fishermen were all doing well, there was enough food for everyone and the dragons. Berk had even started trade with neighbouring tribes. Yet Hiccup didn't feel he was a hero, yes his unusual friendship with a dragon had started it all, but so much had been done by others too. The other members of the dragon academy, who had also embraced friendship with the dragons. Stoick, who had allowed dragons to come and live among them and not forgetting Gobber, who helped the dragons out with their aches and pains. But there was one who eclipsed them all. Toothless, who was like himself, the dragon was curious and wanted to learn about everything, and that had bridged a gap between two enemies.

But what had happened, Toothless had lost his spark. His curiosity had all but gone lately. Hiccup felt helpless. He did not know what to do to help his friend, or even if he could help, and that pained him.

"Astrid, what if I loose him, I don't think I could bear to be without him in my life. Without Toothless I am nothing." Tears streamed down his cheeks.

Astrid hugged him against him again and did not let go. "Hiccup, you are not nothing." she said while rubbing his back, comforting him "You are my best friend, it has taken me a long time to realise that and I am sorry. I let you down when you needed me most. I walked away from you, and forgot about our friendship when we were kids. All these years I felt I had a part missing within me and I didn't know what it was. The part I was missing was your compassion, your sense of humour, your sense of honour and yes, your sarcasm."

Through his tears Hiccup laughed. He was well known for his sarcasm, it often got him into trouble. But he loved making people laugh. As a child Hiccup was always was making his parents laugh and he remembered making Astrid giggle. Things changed over the years and the laughter stopped. His father lost his jolly side when his mother had died, all Stoick wanted to do was kill dragons. It was almost like a part of him had died with her and was replaced by a demon. In the end everyone had turned their backs on Hiccup.

Although he was very young he remembered some things about his mother. Like him she was compassionate, but had the fire of a strong viking woman. She would fight with the best of the vikings against the dragons. Although she would only fight them when necessary, and would not go looking for a fight. She often reigned Stoick into check whenever his war mongering against the dragons took over. It hit Hiccup how much his mother and himself were alike in certain ways. She also wouldn't kill a helpless dragon, or a dragon who couldn't fight back. She would leave that to another of the vikings. There were a few arguments about that between Valhallerama and Stoick about it. She maintained it was wrong to kill any helpless beast it would not be honourable. Even with farm animals she would fight them to the death, for their honour.

This aspect had made Stoick a lot softer than he was after they lost her. After an argument he would often sigh and say "It is the reason why I love you so, before Odin and Thor for the rest of our lives." Hiccup remembered from about 4 years old, they were always in each other's arms it seemed. And Hiccup was often on their laps while they cuddled. In many respects they were the perfect family and although Stoick was annoyed by Hiccups differences from himself as a child and the other kids, he always had told him how he loved him and was proud of him.

It was announced to the village that they had been trying for a second child, a brother or sister for Hiccup. And on one sunny morning a new addition to the household was born, a baby girl they called Dagna. Named after a "new day" as she would herald a new chapter in the horrendous haddock household and was a large baby for a girl. It was a sign that she would grow up to be a powerful warrior. Hiccup on the other hand had been a small baby and did not show the sign of greatness. Not to say that Stoick didn't love him all the same, but he had hoped he would grow and become a powerful dragon slayer, if not a powerful warrior.

Stoick was so happy at the new arrival held the child in his arms rocking her back and forth and even let Hiccup and his new little friend Astrid hold her. He looked so proud of his family, and he invited most of the village to come and see the new arrival. The village was excited about the new arrival, deep honour for the village whenever a new child of the reigning chief was born. There were festivities all throughout the day. And all the children dressed up the street parties. Gobber had even made a cake, using his egg beater arm attachment he had just invented. Life was good.

That same night a viscous storm had hit Berk, the lightning crashed and the rain lashed down. Stoick had to tend to the needs of the village while Vallhallarama looked after Hiccup and the new baby. Hiccup had come to sleep with his mother while the storm raged outside. He was content. A new baby sister for himself and Astrid to play with. He dreamed of all the things they would do, all the things they would teach her. His dreams were shattered by a loud scream. He woke up to his mother leaning over Dagna's cot, face pale and crying.

Things were all a blur, Stoick, with Gobber close behind, had come running in, and Stoick had screamed at the top at his voice for help. Gobber immediately went to summon Gothi, the towns elder. Astrid's mother, who could have been considered the town's midwife had come running in with Astrid in tow. Astrid came over and comforted a scared Hiccup, who was crying in the corner. Her mother and his mother had tended to the baby as best they could until Gothi arrived. Gothi sprinkled a few herbs around and wrote some scripts in a tub of sand that had been brought in. A large flash of lightning lit up all their faces followed by a large crack of thunder. Gothi had peered into the cot, and looked up to the gathered people and solemnly shook her head.

Stoick had fallen to his knees, his face contorted in a silent scream. He broke down into tears, loud sobs that Hiccup had never heard from any viking, let alone his father, the chief. All could be heard in the room was the sobs of the gathered people along with Hiccups voice, "Whats wrong mama... papa... whats wrong with Dagna?" Vallhallerama had come over and held him tight. Astrid still held his hand tight, tears streaming down her own face, looking at Stoick on his knees. Hiccup remembered how she had let go of his hand and quietly patted it, and walked over to Stoick and shook his large shoulder with her small hand. "I am very sorry" she had said "I'll be here for you when you need a hug, hugs always make me feel better when I am sad!" He had looked up at her with red eyes, and Astrid hugged him round the neck tightly. Stoick looked shocked but hugged her back, and a small smile appeared on his face through the tears.

The village remained solemn for the days after that. As was the Viking way, village life continued as normal but everyone was sad. It had been deemed that the storm was a sign that Thor was not happy, and that Dagna had not meant to be. Thor must have some good reason why she should not of been. Maybe she would of affected something in the future that not the true path of time. Stoick and Valhallarama had accepted this. Yes they were distraught but nothing could be done to change things. The passage of death ceremony was a solemn affair. And the remains were not, as usual for a viking ceremony, floated out to sea, but interred in a small tomb in a small cove near raven point. A beautiful spot for Dagna to look over for eternity. She was buried with gifts from the whole village. Hiccup had remembered scraping some sort of dragon into a shiny stone and left it by the rock she was buried under.

Stoick that evening had delivered a rousing speech that everyone must not dwell on the past and looked to the future, but all the same, some of his spark was gone.

After that Hiccup remembered all the family get togethers they had. And Astrid had always been there. It seemed like Stoick cared for Astrid almost like the daughter he never got to know. And she was always welcomed with opened arms by his parents. Hiccup had since meeting her, always sort of had a crush on her. But he was to shy to let her know. All she had seemed to want was to be friends and anyway they were too young for that.

Stoick had always commented to Vallhallerama how inseparable they were, and had even joked in front of them, much to both their embarrassment, that she would end up wife to the new chief of Berk one day. Both just giggled and moved away from each other with red faces. Which made his parents chuckle even more. Hiccup was just glad to see his father laughing again.

When they were not playing upstairs in the house or drawing, they were usually to be found playing in the woods surrounding the village, for whenever they played in the village, one of the other kids was sure to make mean comments about Hiccup. They spent many a wonderful day exploring. And play fighting as dragon vs dragon slayer, with Hiccup usually being the dragon with astrid running round with a wooden sword. Hiccup usually would end the game with a sword lodged between his chest and his arm pretending to die. He would shake and gurgle until Astrid was in hysterics.

They would also both pretend to be dragons. Many an afternoon would be spent running through the woods as fast as they could, arms outstretched like wings, the feeling of wind in their hair. They would collapse onto their back when they had no more breath in their lungs and just look into the sky for what seemed like hours. After awhile They quite often would have a similar conversation.

"What would you think it would be like to fly?" Astrid would ask.

"I dunno, it would be awesome, flying among the clouds like a bird, or a dragon"

"It is my greatest wish that I could touch the clouds" she would say, "that would be the most neat thing to do. Though I would want you with me."

Hiccup would laugh "And how could we get up there?"

"Maybe we could fly a Dragon up there"

"You are silly Astrid, we would get eaten"

"Well you would, I am too fast..." To which Astrid would jump up again and start running though the woods once more, followed by Hiccup.

This one time Hiccup remembered fondly the same routine had happened as usual, they had been running tough the woods above the village. They were racing neck and neck, Astrid had pushed Hiccup who had lost balance and tripped over a rock and fallen down a short rock bank. Astrid surged on ahead laughing. She then realised that Hiccup was not behind her. Hiccup was crying in a heap and Astrid came running back over to him.

"Hiccup I am so sorry I didn't mean to..."

"Arrrghhh, my leg, I think I have broken my leg. You have broken my leg Astrid!"

Astrid jumped down the rock he fad fallen down. "Oh no Hiccup, I am so sorry... I..." she stared in disbelief and screamed "Hiccup your leg has gone"

Sure enough his left leg was missing as he laid in the dirt. "Arrrrgh what have you done to me"... Astrid had started to cry as he then started to laugh as he untucked his leg from his trouser and stood up. "Ha ha, GOT YOU"

Hiccup was still laughing as a look of anger and embarrassment flashed across her face. She punched him in the arm knocking him to the floor again. "That's for scaring me." She then dropped the butt of her wooden sword on his chest. "And THAT's for being a meanie" She then laughed.

He had to admit he had deserved that and he smiled back at her, about to shout some insult when a glinting of the sun reflecting off something caught his eye, he rolled over and looked and saw two small black shiny disks. Astrid walked up behind him. "What you got there?"

"I dunno, I never have seen anything like these before" He flipped them round his fingers, one edge looked like they had been broken off something. They were slightly soft. There was a slight iridescence to the surface and one of them had a deep depression, just like a scar

"Whatever they are they are pretty"

"Well you can have one" he said handing one of the Disks to Astrid "You keep one and i'll keep the other, as a sign of our friendship."

Astrid took the disk and with a large smile reached over and quickly kissed him on the cheek. "You are so sweet, I will keep this forever and ever." Hiccup's cheeks flared red.

Remembering those days was a treasured memory for Hiccup. Everything had started to go wrong from there. Shortly after his beloved mother, had been killed in a dragon raid. Astrid had comforted him and Stoick once again. Stoick become consumed in his warlike revenge and no longer had any time for Hiccup, he expected Hiccup to follow him into his revenge on the dragons. His friendship had fallen apart with his best friend Astrid. He had become all alone and it hurt, really hurt. And he feared it would happen all over again.

Hiccup came back into the present when Astrid shook him. "Hey Hiccup, come back."

"Wha...wher... uh?" Hiccup looked confused.

"I thought I had lost you then, you had gone into your own world there for a second, I don't think you heard a word I said."

"Er of course I did.. i'll always listen to you Astrid" he said.

"Ok then, WHAT did I just say" Astrid teased, punching him playfully on the arm.

"Er... that you love me with all your heart and you cannot do without me" Hiccup said sarcastically.

"Um, not quite..." her cheeks flushing red "I said that Toothless has come back down, and that if you are not careful dinner will be ruined"

He looked back at the cauldron furiously boiling over and flowing over the floor. "Oh come on!, I don't have time to clean all this up as well." hiccup said sheepishly. Toothless bounded over and started sniffing at the overflowed broth on the floor. Licking his lips excitedly he began to lap up the spilled liquid. "Heh I could always rely on you when food is involved, bud!"

After all the drama, the meal was a success, they had a great laugh recounting all the good times they had had in the past while Toothless quietly ate his share in the corner. Stormfly also had her fill outside as she preferred. Stoick arrived home to the heavenly smell emanating from the door and quickly grabbed up a plate and joined them at the table and began to eat.

"Astrid, this is great, this is food fit for Odin himself, where did you learn to cook this good?"

"Er... Dad, that is..."

Stoick interrupted him. "Can't I complement the chef on a meal well done?" Astrid chuckled to herself silently. There was a chirp at the window as Stormfly leaned in and nodded in agreement.

"But dad..."

"I am going to have to invite you over more often Astrid, we need some descent cooking for a change!" He winked at Astrid, and they both looked at Hiccup and laughed. "I'm only joking son. I know that recipe anywhere, your mother, Odin bless he soul, used to cook that for us all those years ago."

After the meal Stoick offered to clean up as a reward for a great meal while Hiccup and Astrid talked into the evening. Eventually Astrid had become tired and left on Stormfly. He bid his father a goodnight and signalled to Toothless who followed him upstairs and jumped up on the rafters and curled up. Hiccup was still worried about his friend. He would usually nuzzle up to him before curling up in his usual sleeping place. He sighed "Goodnight, bud", but there was no response.

He laid on his bed looking up at the rafters he looked across at Toothless and his mind began to think back to the events of the day and about his day dream he had had. Hiccup thought about Dagna, and realised had not really thought much about her, and he felt ashamed of himself. He had been young and didn't really get to know her. If only she would have been still around, his life may not of been such of a misery as it had been. He closed his eyes and vowed to find and visit her grave in the morning.

A powerful thought struck him. And he opened his eyes suddenly. It was said that Thor had shown his displeasure and Dagna was not meant to have been. Could if of been if she HAD still been around, his friendship with Toothless may never of existed, SHE may have been there when he tried to find the downed Night Fury, SHE may of killed him.

Another thought struck him, he reached into a little box on the stand beside his bed. He grabbed something small out of it and flung back the covers and jumped out of bed. "Toothless, get up, quick." The dragon looked down on him with a look of annoyance and growled. "This is important bud"

Toothless jumped down and came to him. A puzzled look on his face, they never usually went out this late at night except in an emergency. "No time to explain, follow me" as Hiccup jumped out the window onto the roof followed by Toothless. He jumped on the dragon's back and they took off.

They flew across towards Raven Point. He had to find it. He had to find the grave of his sister. He remembered what it looked like but not where exactly it was, all he knew it was near Raven Point in a small cove. They darted through the trees as fast as they could and they came upon Toothless's cove. The place where they had first become friends. The dragon began to descend and a sad look filled his eyes, was he going to be put back here again as some sort of punishment. Hiccup pulled on his reins making him pull up again. "Don't Worry bud, we are not..." Then he saw it. The large rock which marked the grave of his dead sister. It was in THIS cove, THEIR cove all along. "Actually were are landing here... quick Toothless."

The dragon gave a whine and then started to descend again. They landed by the rock. Hiccup remembered the rock well. It was the place where he first tried to make friends with the Night Fury. He had brought a fish hoping to find out more about the dragon. Hiccup had crept slowly into the cove hoping not to startle the dragon. When he heard a noise behind him, there the Night Fury was, perched atop the rock.

Hiccup fell to his knees. Toothless quickly bounded over and nuzzled his friend with an alarmed look on his face, what was wrong with his human friend, Why had they come here? Hiccup slowly got up and rubbed Toothless's cheek. He slowly walked towards the rock. Was this a sign? This had to be more than coincidence. He had to find it. He had to find the small rock he had placed as a gift beside the grave.

Toothless become more restless at his friends behaviour, He was frantically searching though the small rocks around the bigger one. Eventually Hiccup slowed in his frantic efforts and sat down with his back to the rock. Breathing hard with a tear running down his face. A look of defeat on his face. "I cannot find it Toothless. I cannot find it" Toothless nuzzled him. He balled his ands into fists and frustratedly punched the ground. A small rumble emanated from the ground behind him and a small rock covered in moss and lichen rolled down and landed by his side. Hiccups eyes widened. How... It was the rock, the rock he had gifted to his Sister. Hiccup wanted to turn it over and look at his drawing but first he felt the need to explain it all to his companion.

"Toothless, this is going to sound, well a bit whacky. But I think we were destined to meet and be friends all along. This my friend is the grave of my Sister, who died as a baby. It was said she was destined to be a great warrior." A sad look crossed Toothless's face and he looked to the rock and then to Hiccup. He nuzzled his arm once more and let out a mournful whine. "Thank you Toothless, its OK. As I was saying, she died when I was a young boy. It was said that the gods were angry and her life was not meant to be. I think that if she had survived then we would not of met, she may of even of been the one to kill you. When vikings die we usually send them out on a ship to sea, but I don't know why it was decided for her to be buried here, in your cove. Well when a Viking dies we send them off with various gifts tied to them in life." The dragon nodded in understanding, dragons did something similar with their loved ones. "Well toothless, my gift was a drawing I made on this small rock. I cannot remember what I drew, but I knew it was a dragon. I suspect I know what dragon I drew already."

Hiccup slowly lifted the rock and pointed the flat side towards the Night Fury. Toothless sniffed it and then looked at it. He seemed to study it. All of a sudden the dragon slumped back onto his hind legs with a look of shock on his face. It was all the answer Hiccup needed to know. He turned the rock round and saw the childish drawing scratched into the rock. It resembled a Night Fury, just like the one many year's later he had drawn in his journal when he first met Toothless. And even more bizarrely Hiccup remembered he didn't have time to finish the drawing before he had to leave for the right of death burial gathering. The unfinished part was the dragon's tail, it only had one tail fin. The SAME fin as Toothless.

Hiccups head swam, and judging by Toothless's expression so Did his. Hiccup reached into his pouch and felt for the object he had taken out of his night stand. It was the small black disk. He now knew what it was. He got up and went up to Toothless and showed him. "Also when I was a small child me and Astrid found two of these. When we were randomly running in the woods round here. I Only found them as I er.. happened to fall beside them." Toothless sniffed it and smiled. Hiccup smiled back and noticed an old scar on Toothless's side, he took the black disk and lined up with the scar on the Dragon's side. It was one of Toothless's scales, a new one long grown in it's place and leaving a gap in the scar.

Hiccup once again collapsed to his knees, the revelation too much to take. Was it really fate that had brought them together, had his sister died for a reason. Was it true that he and Toothless had always meant to meet. And his sister's name Dagna, which meant "new day" her destiny ultimately had ushered in a "new day" between dragon and viking? It all fit. "Well bud, seems like a lot of different event's in my live have steered me towards you, maybe it was the same for you?" the dragon just stared him wide eyed and seemed to nod in agreement.

Hiccup walked over to the rock which marked Dagna's grave. He tenderly rubbed the rock. "Well sis, I wish I could of got to know you, but it seems I have a lot to thank you for. You will always have a special place in my heart..." Toothless lumbered over and started to nuzzle the rock tenderly. "Correction... a special place in OUR hearts."

:: END OF CHAPTER THREE ::


	5. Chapter 4:: The Calm Before The Stormfly

:: CHAPTER FOUR :: The Calm Before The Stormfly ::

The sky was blazing red, nothing could be heard in the village apart from the gentle rolling of the waves far down below the cliff edge. It was one of those beautiful winters mornings where it was so clear you can see for miles. As was normal for Berk this time of year it was cold, but that type of cold which is refreshing on a morning stroll. Only the smoke coming from a few of the houses signalled the village was starting to come to life.

Astrid was still fast asleep. She had had bad dreams for a few nights now and she tossed and turned most of the night in her bed. They were not violent dreams, but scary none the less. With Toothless's odd behaviour, she had recurring dreams, either that Toothless had left and she had to save Hiccup from killing himself or all the dragons had abandoned Berk and their riders.

The latter dream bothered her more, it was one she dreamed about tonight. Toothless had left first and Stormfly followed her good friend away leaving Astrid all alone. Even Meatlug had left her beloved Fishlegs behind and found a new life elsewhere. What was worse that the whole village blamed Hiccup and he had become as he was before, a figure of ridicule in the village. He even blanked Astrid.

With the dragons gone the village slowly fell apart. People had forgotten the old ways and they were easy pray for the other tribes who overran Berk and took people away as prisoner. Stoick had been killed and Alvin the Treacherous had taken over as chief of the village. As revenge Hiccup was exiled onto a small island and never heard from again. Astrid was made slave to Alvin and catered to his every whim, in more ways than one.

Astrid woke with a start, still covered in sweat and breathing heavily. Immediately she saw Stormfly at the window, a concerned look on her face. The dragon gave her a quizzical look.

"It's OK Stormfly, just a rough night, nothing to be worried about." The dragon just blinked "Seriously, i'm fine." She yawned loudly "So you are up very early, you want some breakfast?"

The dragon cooed excitedly and turned round, a signal for Astrid that she was ready to go.

"Hold up girl, I'm not even out of bed yet." Astrid laughed as she jumped out of bed. In her tiredness she stumbled and the contents of her night table went flying. "Oh mother of a troll..." she watched some of her stuff roll underneath the heavy stand. "Great, now i'll have to move this heavy old thing...ahh.. i'll do it later"

Quickly getting dressed she jumped through the window and onto Stormfly's back. The dragon gave her a look. "Why you are impatient this morning" she laughed. The dragon chuckled too. "Oh Stormfly, you do know how to cheer me up after a bad night" Astrid gently rubbed Stormfly's cheek and they took off for the short flight to Mulch's, where a heavenly smell of cooking was coming from.

Mulch & Bucket were often up early nowadays preparing food for the village and their dragons. The farming had gone well since the dragons had become their friends and their was ample meat for everyone. Mulch had had the idea of opening up a stall serving many types of food and drink. And it was very popular in the mornings as the villagers got their fill ready for a day's work. Bucket had in his now artistic mind develop some quite exotic recipes. And trade was booming, especially has trader Yohann had brought some mysterious brown beans, and Bucket had devised and idea of roasting them and then grinding them and serving them as a nice hot drink to wake people up. He called it Bucket's Blend and it definitely woke people up.

This morning, it was still early and only a few patrons were already munching and drinking. Astrid landed and dismounted. The smell was heavenly and Stormfly sniffed longingly at the food. Leaving Stormfly outside, Astrid entered. There was a large array of different foods on display. Meats, fish, fruits and vegetables, and various pots of different herbs and spices. Astrid's stomach rumbled as she decided what she should have. Mulch popped out of the storage area carrying a large barrel full of Chicken and turned round "Ahh morning Astrid, and morning to you too Stormfly" he shouted out the door, "you are just in time. Got a new batch of Bucket's famous Chickin'"

An excited warble made them both turn to the window, they all laughed as Stormfly's head was stuffed through the small whole. Mulch turned around to Astrid chuckling, "Well I guess it'll be the chickin' then"

"Oh yes, most definitely, this chicken is things that legends are made of, it is said that thunder is actually Thor's stomach rumbling at the thought of it. I will take some for me and a basket for Stormfly."

Much called to his friend "Bucket, go grab a basket out back for Stormfly will ya" as Mulch started loading a wooden dish with chicken. "And my lady, will you be having some of Bucket's Blend this morning?"

"Yeah I really need it this morning I just cannot wake up" She yawned.

"Well this will keep you awake for a week, hey Bucket, also grab a cup of you Bucket's Blend while your back there" he called out back.

"Thank you Mulch, Where would the village be without you"

"Asleep probably..." he laughed. "Anyway how you been keepin' lately"

"I'm ok, a bit tired lately, maybe the cold it getting to me"

"Ahh it gits to us all. I think it has gotton to Hiccup too as he is usually here by now" Mulch said scratching his beard.

"He's probably catching up on some sleep, he's been worried about Toothless this past weeks. I know he's not been sleeping properly. Though it is unusual he not smelled this chicken, he usually does."

"Aye that he does" as Bucket returned to the room.

"What did I need to get this basket for?" Bucket said scratching his head in confusion.

"Ahh Bucket, you could loose yer bucket if it weren't screwed on. And why have you brought that cup empty?"

"Er, did I drink it already?... I don't feel awake..."

"Ahh if you want somethin' done you gotta do it yerself. Fill that basket with chicken for me if you can manage that" Mulch grumbled as he stormed out back.

"I'm sorry miss, I not been the same since, er, whatever...er..." Bucket apologised to Astrid

"No worries Bucket, i'm a bit scatty brained in the mornings"

"It is morning? Have I slept already?" Bucket looked even more confused "If it is morning Where is Hiccup, he is usually here by now? I think?"

"I do not know, even though Toothless has not been up, usually Hiccup still had his morning wander"

Worry crept up from Astrid's stomach. It was unusual, even in the days of Hiccup being the village outcast, he was always up early, usually to the irritation of the rest of the village. That had not changed when Hiccup had inexplicably become the village hero, and a person who herself looked up to. Now he would usually come for his breakfast, often with Astrid, and then went off to research or tinker in Gobber's workshop on some new device, usually something to help with the Dragon Training Academy.

As Astrid went to grab the food she remembered she had left her hip pouch on her night table. It had probably fallen off with the rest of her stuff. She cursed herself quietly. She had never left home without that pouch before. All this stuff going through her head was messing with her and she did not like it.

"Ahh, sorry Mulch" who had returned from out back with the rest of the order "I have not got my pouch, so I cannot make payment, I'll have to go back and get it first."

"No worry Miss" a large smile on Mulch's face "you can pay me tomorrow or, or if you fancy, you and Stormfly may be able to help out instead."

"You are a great hearted man Mulch, I will come back later, I would help out but we've been a bit behind schedule at the academy with Toothless and all."

"As you wish, but if you ever at a loss as what to do, come and find me, we pay well" Mulch waved some of the Chicken around and laughed.

"Don't Worry, we will. See you Mulch, See you Bucket"

Astrid usually would of taken a seat and discussed the days activities with Hiccup. She sadly looked at the table outside they usually occupied and sighed. Walking over to Stormfly she dropped the bucket of Chicken for Stormfly to eat. It would be nice to sit on the grass and look out over the cliff to sea, a beautiful view on such a clear morning.

"Well Stormfly it is just you and me for a change. No Toothless again and strangely No Hiccup."

A hint of worry crossed Stormfly's face. She cared deeply about her rider, and her best friends Toothless and Hiccup. The dragon could tell that her rider, Astrid missed Hiccup. And Stormfly missed Toothless. They had only just met at the time of the end of the Dragon-Human war, they had both participated in bringing down their evil dragon leader, the one the humans had referred to as Red Death. After that battle, the 2 dragons became fast friends. Toothless had the good humour and loyalty his race was known for among dragons.

Stormfly's mind wandered back to a time ago. She had only encountered one Night Fury before in her life. They too had become fast friends, just like herself and Toothless now were. There were rumours of other Night Furies but none of the dragons she knew had ever met one. To the dragons they Night Furies were known as Ne'engle

Stormfly, Tor'mos as known when young, or Tory to her dragon friends, came from a loving family, with 2 sisters and a brother. Each time one of her parents would go out on the dragon raids as mandated by their leader. Ideally both should of gone, but her parents refused to leave their children on their own. Mostly the dragons socialised within their own species when not involved in planning or out on the dragon raids, and other Gen'ares',what Nadders were known to dragons as, had offered to mind them while they were away.

Then came a time when both her parents would have to go out on raids together, as their raiding group were short so it was unavoidable that the children had to be left with an older, but not yet adult gen'are. Their minder was nice enough but had no idea when it came to looking after young dragons. They played tricks on her and generally acted mischievous.

Tor'mos had been a curious youngster as far back as she knew. She loved to explore and investigate new things. Quite often the minder had to find her and try and tell her off. She just laughed back at the minder until it was warned her parents would be told. Still every day the same routine, the minder would have her claws full with her siblings she would wonder off. It was one of these times she met her new friend.

She had wandered much further than usual and was wandering by the cliffs looking at all the different rocks when she heard it, a whooshing sound. Tor'mos was quite brave for a young child and had no qualms about walking to the edge of the cliff and looking over. There she saw a wonderful sight, a large black dragon flying back and forth. She could not believe her eyes, her siblings had argued over and over about the existence of them, as none of them had seen one before. Her brother teased her that they were evil and loved to eat Gen'ares.

And there one was, a Ne'engle. It was a young dragon, but too large to be a child. A mixture of fear and wonderment welled inside of her, but the fear took over, what if her brother had been right. She slowly backed away from the cliff. She suddenly felt herself falling as the ground crumbled from underneath, she was too young to fly properly and she fell fast.

Tor'mos let out a cry, but her minder was too far away to hear her, and it would have been too late anyway. Closing her eyes she cried to herself. She would never see her beloved parents again. She hated to admit it to herself, but she would also miss her bratty brother.

There was suddenly a loud whoosh and the Tor'mos landed on something soft. Opening her eyes she found herself flying, were her wings actually working? She looked down and found the answer. Fear crippled her for what she saw was an angry looking Ne'engle, who's head she had landed on. Tears welled in her eyes again, to survive a fall and now her fate was at the hands of a black dragon.

They landed at the bottom of the cliff and the Ne'engle reached up and grabbed the sobbing dragon and placed her on the ground in front. With scared eyes Tor'mos looked up into the annoyed face of the large dragon.

"I...I...I'm so sorry, please do not eat me"

The black dragon grinned "Well it's raining lunch today" Tor'mos burst into hysterical crying. "I'm only joking young one, I have already eaten"

"I want my mum" sobbed Tor'mos

"Awww, i'm sorry sweetie, I was really only joking. I do not eat dragons, I heard your kind, well, taste a bit icky"

Tor'mos looked up at the dragon. And though her sobs she grinned back. Studying the dragon she realised that it was a female and was actually very pretty. "I am sorry for landing on your head, I did not mean to"

"I have had worse happen to me, and besides when I heard your cry, I could not let you fall"

"So you actually saved me? Why? I am a Gen'are, not a Ne'engle"

"I do not care for things such as that, I would do it for anyone I saw in distress. Now dry your eyes so you can see to fly back up again"

A sheepish look crossed the small dragons face "But..But I cannot fly yet"

"What, you should be whizzing around annoying your parents by now. It is easy. Here look watch me!" With grace the Black dragon took to the air, flew in a circle and landed again. "Now you try"

Tor'moz flapped her wings with all her might, and started to lift off the ground, "yeah look at me, i'm flying." she then tilted forward and landed on her snout. "ow!"

"Not bad for a first effort but you have a lot to learn. Do your parents not teach you?"

"Well they started to, but now they are gone while they bash humans! My minder does not even seem to know how or want to teach me." Tor'mos sobbed. The black dragon patted her on the head tenderly.

"Aww thats so sad. I am going to have to go on those raids soon, but not for a year or two until I'm ready. They say i'm too young. But I can handle it." With that the black dragon shot a bolt of fire hitting a rock above, which tumbled down and fell on her tail. Her eyes widened as a look of shock hit her face.

Tor'mos laughed "You are funny!"

"Everyone says that about my kind, though I do not see it"

"Are there any more of your kind on the island? I have never seen another one before" Tor'mos said in wonderment

"Alas young one, no. My kind are rare and apart from my parents who passed away a time ago I have not met another. There are rumours of one or two others dotted around someplace, but I doubt I will ever meet them, it is said they are too into raiding to bother with other dragons."

"So you do not have any friends?"

"Alas, no. Our race is supposed to keep to themselves and only fly at night. I love flying in the day, it is so beautiful at times to race among the trees and watch the clouds, I do get a bit lonely at times but that what my life is."

"That is sad, everyone needs a friend, I don't have one either, the others think i'm too small and scrawny. They make fun of me. Hey you can be my friend if you like."

"I don't think your parents would like that..."

"Well my parents are not here, I don't mind, the others are icky anyway."

The black dragon roared with laughter "Ok, tell you what. I will teach you to fly, and if you are successful we can become friends. You would need to keep up with me to be any fun"

"Deal... my name is Tor'mos by the way, what is yours?"

"My name is Nit'zenga, very pleased to meet you Tor'mos"

"That is a pretty name..." a worried look crossed the young dragons face. "Oh no, my minder is calling, I can hear her in the distance"

"Well quickly jump aboard" Nit'zenga lowered her head so the small dragon could climb up. "Are you ready? Then here we go" With astonishing speed, the dragon took of vertically, it took all of Tor'mos' strength to hold on. They soon reached the summit and landed again. "Now quickly go, before we all get in trouble. Oh and I will be around here if you need me, just call my name and I will come if I am free. Have a good night Tor'mos, and remember I'll soon have you flying like an adult."

"Thank you, see you again soon. Byeeeee." Tor'mos stood there in wonder as the dragon took off again and disappeared over the cliff. She was excited at meeting this dragon. And wow, she would teach her to fly. Ne'engles were well known the be the most intelligent and fastest of the dragons species, well at least around these parts. How she would show her siblings who made fun of her lack of flight when she became better than them. Maybe one day she would almost fly as fast as one of Nit'zenga's kind.

The years passed and true to her word, Nit'zenga had taught young Tor'mos a lot. She became one of the best flyers on the island, much to the envy of her siblings. They had become best of friends. Nit'zenga had started her raiding on the humans and Tor'mos practised while she was gone. They had met in secret for years and no one had even questioned Tor'mos at her disappearances. They just all accepted she was growing independent and loved exploring.

Then the year came when it was her turn to start raiding. She sat in their normal meeting spot curled around the fire.

"Nitz, I know you have raided many times, does the nervousness go away, I mean my first raid is tonight, what if I am no good, what if I mess it all up."

"No my friend, it does not. I always have those feelings at the start of the raids. But one thing I am sure of, is that you will make an excellent fighter"

"I am not so sure, I wish I didn't have to do it."

"I always wish that we did not have to do it, everyone says the humans are vile scum, and deserve everything they get, but I have seen them, they have families too. I often wonder why we fight them, they are so small, surely we could just drive them away."

"I wish you could be there with me"

"Aww Tory, I wish I could be at your side too, but alas it cannot be"

"Damn tradition. WHY is it such tradition that a first raid should be with your family, I mean all races have to work together with each other normally. I wish I was one of your kind, who do not have that tradition."

"Ha do not wish that, it would be a lonely life. You know at my age, I have well, feelings. Yearnings. Maybe I will have to start a quest" Nitz gave a sly grin.

"Ha you go girl. One day I am sure you will meet a dashing dragon who will sweep you off your claws."

"Not likely, I've got to find one first.

Tory sighed "Well it's time, I better go and meet with my family to begin the preparation ritual." A look of sadness crossed her face. "Nitz, thank you so much"

"For what?"

"Thank you for being there for me, thank you for being the best friend a dragon could ever have. If I don't make it promise you will remember me forever?"

"Awww, now you gonna make me cry, anyways you are going to make it, if you don't I will have to come along and slap you myself with my wing."

"Ahh ha ha, you would have to catch me first. Thanks for making me laugh as you always do, especially tonight, I really need it."

"Aww come here you soppy ol' dragon, give me a hug"

Tory hugged Nitz "Thank you again. One thing can you give me any advice?"

"Well first, do not act like me when raiding, I don't think It would be the way your family would expecting somehow. You need to fly like one of you and attack like one of you."

"Yeah too true, don't want to blow our friendship, and besides I'll be faster than you anyway." She mocked.

"You wish." Nitz laughed. "Anyway, You need to be quick. They have towers which shoot rocks at you, and watch out for others which fire nets. If you get entangled in one, thats it. If you are in one to one combat, remember they will always, and I MEAN always, go for the kill."

"Thank you my dearest friend. That I shall take into account. But I can hear my family calling, so it is time. Wish me luck?" Both dragons started crying as they hugged."

"Good luck Tory, I mean it. Make me proud." She looked after he friend as she flew to the top of the cliff and disappeared over the top. A feeling of pride washed over her, for she knew that her friend had all grown up now, no longer the adorable little dragon she had been, but now a fearsome fighting machine. It was in her all along and Tory would Storm those humans and she knew it.

It was time, her brother on one side and sisters on the other. Her parents took the lead as they took off from their nest. The night was clear, as was preferred for the raids. Her brother nudged her as they flew.

"So sis, ready to be saved by me when you get captured?"

"Oh grow up, I will outrun anything the humans have to throw at me, i'll leave you in my wake and you know it"

Her father roared, "Both of you, shut up, this is serious business and I will not tolerate this bickering. We ALL have to work together, we have to get as much as possible and get back to our leader as quickly as possible. So concentrate or i'll feed you to them myself."

"Sorry dad!" They both chimed together.

It seemed like eternity they flew until in the distance they saw feint lights in the distance, flying out to sea further they circled the island.

"Ok my family, observe I will fly in direct and shoot some flame at the houses as a distraction, Tor'mos you will go with your brother and mother around the left side, while you two go to the right. On my signal fire with all you have got. Then Tor'mos' group will attack from that side while the others will dive in to take as much as you can. Fly to that cliff and deposit what you have got. Then you will swap roles. Lastly I will grab what I can and then we will meet up and pick up our loot to carry back. Got it?"

They all agreed on the plan.

"OK slowly now you will fly towards the human nest, we do not want to alert them too early so fly as quiet as you can. When I fire then wait for my signal. I'll go on ahead. When I shoot into the air go.

Tor'mos watched as her father flew far ahead of the group. Nerves gnawed at her. If she did something wrong it could mean the end of their lives. She thought back to her friend wishing she could be here to offer her own advice. She snapped out of it when there was a loud bang from ahead. The attack had started.

Tor'mos rushed in with flames blazing. She hit a few buildings dead on and they caught fire. Her brother had swept flame across the centre of the humans nest and they were running about arming themselves. He siblings rushed from the opposite direction both with loot. Now was the moment of truth, next it would be her turn to turn and grab loot while the others attacked. She few far past splitting up with the others in her small group to throw off attacks, they would reform then dive in. Then she saw them, two humans on the hill above the village. This was her chance she turned to face them and dived in. She readied her flames. She inhaled as she dove, the two humans just stood there, frozen in place.

She was about to fire when something told her to hold fire. A niggling feeling at the back of her head told her to stop. The humans were not attacking, they looked to be observing. As she got close they seemed to be far smaller than the other vikings. Tory realised that they were human children. Nothing was worth the needless death of children, even if they were the ones to grow up and kill her, she could not do it. The children ran as she pulled up and circled around. She thanked the feeling in her head, she could not of lived with herself for what she could of done. She also thanked Nitz in her head, as she taught her values, values which others sadly did not have.

"You missed a great chance there sis." came a voice from behind "Loose your nerve already huh?"

Her brother was one such person, he would kill anything for glory. "Shut up you idiot, they were only children. I will not kill children." as she climbed again in readiness for the next attack.

"Yeah and they will grow up to attack us dragons and our children, they all deserve the same fate. Wait 'til I tell dad, then you will be in trouble!"

"I really do not care, but if you are frightened of a few small children that is your business, now come on the next attack is starting."

She dove away before he could reply, the village was lit up with fire, but this time would not be so easy. The humans were ready for the attack. Eyes narrowed Tory spotted a sheep and dove just as explosions of fire lit up the village. She grabbed for it and quickly shot up into the sky. Alas she was not quite quick enough as she felt a sharp pain in her back leg, looking down Tory saw she was hit with an arrow. Though the pain she carried on leaving her brother far behind. She reached the drop point and landed, dropping the sheep onto the other loot already there. The rest of her family joined her shortly after and dropped off their loot too. She cried in pain.

"Tor'mos, you are hit." said her father.

Her father pulled out the arrow and licked the wound. "Don't worry it is only a small wound.

"Yes I took an arrow to the knee.." choking back the tears.

"Now you know why we must be vary careful." her father said sternly to the whole group.

"Yeah she also messed up but not killing two humans she had a clear shot at." her brother spitefully said. "She messed up"

"Shut it, I told you before, they were children... aarrrgh... I will not kill a child, no matter what"

"Tor'mos, you must be able to kill anything that comes between you and the goal..."

Her brother grinned "Ha... I tol..."

"SILENCE" their father bellowed "However you MUST ONLY go after targets that are a threat, DO NOT waste time on lesser threats, or you will likely be killed or captured. There is no rule hat says children are not fair game, BUT I will respect anybody's wishes not to attack them. It is also very likely that on may raids you will be injured, no matter how careful, just stay on guard at all times to minimise the risks. Tor'mos, I am proud of you this day, you have succeeded beyond my expectations and you have your first, or many no doubt battle scars. ALL of you have made me proud, you all have got something to offer our leader. Now it is time to return with the offering."

Tory shot her brother the best smug glance she could. He said nothing and silently flew behind.

That first raid taught her more things about life than she could ever of thought of. That night she went and found Nitz. She lit a fire at their favourite spot and chatted.

"So how did it go? Nitz said excitedly

"It went quite well, apart from this." she showed her friend the wound on her knee.

"Yowch, looks painful?"

"Yeah it is when I walk, but its just another battle scar heh heh."

"Yeah tell me about it, I have had many." She stood up showing off.

"I keep getting teased by my brother for not killing humans now though."

"Oh, why is that?"

"Well I saw two humans on a hill above the human nest. Well I went in to attack them but something held me back. I was so close to letting off fire. It was only when I got nearer I realised they were children. I could not do that. Now my brother is rubbing it in."

"Well my dear friend, it is one of the things I have said myself. I would never go after any human unless it is attacking me. Children I would never attack either. I would rather die than harm any child. I am so proud of you, proud to call you my friend."

Their raiding skills built up and they joined bigger and bigger groups of new raid recruits up until they could finally join the main raid. And this was the full on affair. This was a proper raid with all types of dragons of all ages, not just the new guys. It was the first raid where Tory's friend would be at her side. Tory knew that she could not act as friends but knew they would have each others backs.

A group of them split off, Tory, her brother and Nitz and a couple of other dragons they did not know. Their job was to attack from the rear so as they reached the island they changed direction. They flew over the forest above the village and over a cove. Nitz smiled to Tory. Just after they passed over the cove it hit them.

The ambush was strong and a bola hit her brother with enough force to take him down. He flew and spiralled down into the cove. The other 2 dragons flew down to attack, but they were too slow. They fell where they were hit. Dead immediately. Tory screamed to Nitz. "My brother"

"Calm down Tory, we have to get out of here or we will perish too."

"I can't, leave him... he may be a pain, but he's still my brother." She cried as she spied the humans running towards the cove.

"Go, i'll go get him. Just fly away as fast as you can."

"NO, i'm not leaving you..."

"You MUST..."

"NO... I'll go and get him."

"That would be suicide, your leg is still injured, you will never be able to lift him out."

"Ok then I will draw the humans away from the cove.

"That is just as likely to get you killed too." Nitz frowned.

"Remember it is you who have taught me to fly I will keep them busy, I can do this"

"OK... just be careful." Nitz dived into the cove.

"You too."

Tory dived towards the humans as fast as she could and fired, she missed. The humans scattered for a few seconds then reformed. They threw their weapons back. Tory was to agile and dodged the bolas, she dived in again this time she hit. A group of humans went down, but there were too many. She looped round and came back towards the humans again. It hit the wall of the cove. The humans raced in.

Her brother was tied fast. He knew this was his end, he could hear the humans coming down into the cove. He vowed to not die without a fight. A whooshing noise came from above his head. He looked up to see a dark silhouette shooting towards him. The Ne'engle from his group, the only one he had ever seen. Explosions started from above, the battle had started. What was it doing coming down into the cove during a battle?

"If I bite through these ropes can you fly?" She said.

The question baffled Tory's brother. It was an unwritten rule not to risk your life for one not of your own race. And here was a female Ne'engle trying to save him in the heat if battle.

"...er... no my wing is broken... why are you here and not with the battle."

"A promise to your sister. She is creating a diversion."

"My sister? What? Why are you doing this."

"I am not going to watch someone my best friend cares deeply about, perish."

"My sister? What? Best friends? But you are a Ne'engle"

"Well duh... You should know how amazing your sister really is, she has thrown away the norm and befriended me, she is now up there risking her life for you, now stand if you can so I can get a grip on you to lift you..."

Nitz heard her name being yelled by Tory... pain shot through her head as a hammer tossed by a human smashed into her skull. Blood poured down into her eye, blinding her on one side.

"Nitz, nooooooo"... humans raced over to the 2 stricken dragons. Her brother stood up tall and fired. The humans fell.

Her brother signalled to his sister, "Tor'mos...Quickly we have little time." As he helped Nitz onto her feet, dazed and confused.

"Nitz, are you OK?" as Tory nuzzled her.

"Er... yeah... purple..." wobbling on her feet.

"Oh, thats all we need. Nit'zenga, Can you fly?"

"um... yes... where am I?"

"No time to explain, grab a rope on my brother and lift."

They both managed to lift the dragon out of the cove, and away from danger. Nitz could barely fly and after a long struggle they got back to an island between the Humans Island and Home. They landed with a crash. Nitz passed out.

"Nitz, wake up... please..."

"Sister, you have got to go and find help. I'll keep watch over her. I owe her for saving my life, as I owe you.

"I cannot leave her... she needs me..!" Tory said through her tears.

Her brother put her arm round her "Look I have spent all these years being a complete jerk to you, when all you have done is care. And it has made me realise how much I care for you. So let me do this for you. I will take care good care of her, she is one of us. Now GO, fly like a storm!

It took her ages to find her father among the battle back on the humans island, but she managed to among the fighting. Her brother and Nitz were rescued and her family took in Nitz while she was healing from her wounds, lucky no lasting damage apart from a nasty scar to the right side of her face. Tory's family ever grateful for her selflessness towards another race.

While Nitz was healing, Tory carried on with the raids. She had come back one day excited.

"Hey Nitz, you never will guess what I saw on a raid today."

"Lemme guess, a Human? Nitz Laughed.

"No, Something bigger"

"You in the reflection off the water, nothing is bigger than that" The black dragon laughed louder

"Oi, cheeky, guess your poor sense of humour was not knocked out of you. Anyway I saw another dragon. Another one of you."

"Aaaaand?"

"A young male too."

"So what..."

"Well.. you know..."

"I don't know what you mean..." Nitz grinned.

When Nitz had fully recovered she started raiding again. After awhile her raids started to be longer and longer, and sometimes she did not come back at all. Tory suspected that her friend had found this Ne'engle. Whenever she questioned Nitz about it, she said nothing. This went on for many months. Tory had fun teasing her friend whenever they met about it until one day she didn't come home, not unusual for her. A day, a week a month ticked by with no sign of her. Her brother comforted Tory when it call came too much, assuring her that she had probably settled down with a mate and would come back when ready. She never did the years passed and Tory herself was captured by the humans and used for training the young. One female human of the group was the most relentless of them in her attacks, but in a weird kind of way she kind of respected that female, and kind of had a soft spot for her. That same female would soon become her new best friend.

"Stormfly, whats the matter girl? You have not touched your food."

Stormfly came round from her day dream to find Astrid with a concerned look on her face, stroking her cheek. Stormfly nuzzled her tenderly back and started to eat.

BAM, it struck her. Her daydream... the two young children she refused to attack. She recognised them as who they were. And she was gladder than ever that that she chose her path. For if she had of killed those children, she would still be at war with the humans. The two children were now her friends.

:: END OF CHAPTER FOUR ::


	6. Chapter 5 :: Life's A Berk!

:: CHAPTER FIVE :: Life's a Berk

Astrid was worried. It was unusual not to see Hiccup out and about by now. He had missed breakfast and it was not mid morning. The village was bustling with early morning trade and people tending to their dragons, cleaning and feeding them.

She could see from Stormfly's expression that she seemed uneasy too. She had never known Hiccup to be up late, even as a small child he was always running around and getting in everyone's way as they did their morning business.

No this was strange, even if he had overslept, Toothless would have been awake and soon woke him up. She had not seen Stoick this morning either, again this was unusual. Astrid walked over towards the blacksmith, with Stormfly following, hoping that maybe Hiccup was inside with Toothless making him some kind of new tail or something.

All was quiet from the blacksmith, not a good sign. She walked through the door and was met by the sight of Gobber slumbering over his anvil. Turning back towards Stormfly she shook her head "They are not here girl..." With a snort Gobber Jumped up, and brandished his arm/axe attachment.

"Who goes there...?" He shouted

"It's only me, well and Stormfly, Gobber." She said nervously with a wave.

A broad grin crossed Gobber's face. "Ahh, sorry about that missy. Force of habit if you know what I mean. What can I do you for this morning?"

"Have you seen Hiccup this morning?"

"No lass, I have been her all night, err...cleaning my weapons, you know, no harm in keeping these babies ready for action!" He stroked Bertha, his catapult tenderly.

"What about Stoick, He is usually doing his village walk by now. I have not seen a sign of him either! I'm getting worried"

"Och lass, they be fine. Stoick was...err...also helping me clean the weapons last night" Gobber sheepishly glanced over at an empty ale keg in the corner. Astrid frowned at Gobber "Anyway, have you tried the house, they are probably there?"

"Not yet, but still I would expect Hiccup and Toothless to of been abut by now. With all that's gone on recently I am really worried about them."

"Do not worry yourself lass, you know Hiccup, Always having some crazy idea pop into his head. He's one stubborn Viking of ye ask me. Takes after he father does that one! Why don't you pop over to the house, you could do old Gobber a favour while you are there. Stoick has left one of his, err, tools here." Gobber rummaged around the tools all over the place and grabbed a large wooden tankard and handed it to Astrid.

"Tool... I _can't_ imagine what this could be used for" She said rolling her eyes. As she was about to turn and leave, she looked at the beer tankard. It was exquisitely made, smooth and polished perfectly and in the side was engraved the Berk Crest and dragons were carved all the way round."

"That is something isn't it lass" Gobber said "A tankard fit for the chief wouldn't you say. And it was made by Hiccup himself."

"Hiccup made this? It must have been recently?" She looked wide eyed at the intricate carvings round the sides

"No lass, he made that years ago when he was just a wee boy. It was made in this very building, well the building before this place was destroyed by dragons, or was it the one before that... I cannae remember, anyway no mind."

"Has it been altered recently?"

"That old thing, no. It'd just as Hiccup made it"

"Well, these carvings are a pattern made out of dragons. And the central piece is a specific dragon, look"

Gobber grabbed up the tankard and inspected it closely. "By the light of Odin. It's a Night Fury. I never even noticed. Nobody had seen a Night Fury up close before before Toothless came along, let alone Hiccup of all people" he carefully handed Astrid the tankard.

"Then how... I've got to find him. Gobber, if he comes here tell him I am looking for him; and it is urgent. I'm going up to the house.

"Don't worry I will Astrid, things like this give me the willies

Astrid ran over to Stormfly and jumped on her back. "Come on Stormfly, over to Hiccups" Stormfly jumped and soared into the air and glided over to the Horrendous Haddock home.

She didn't know why, but Astrid was always nervous about knocking on Stoick's door. She never knew what kind of mood he would be in. In general she respected Stoick, but he could fly of the handle with little provocation. Gingerly knocking at the door she patiently awaited a response. All was silent. Astrid knocked again a bit louder, again nothing. The feelings of worry returned. What if something bad had happened overnight? She knew she had to find out.

Barging through the door the door loudly banged against the wall. Immediately there was a loud crash from inside and a lot of cursing. A roar then filled the house and Astrid saw Stoick charging towards her, mace in hand. Closing her eyes she braced herself for impact, but never came.

"Ahh Astrid it is you," Rubbing his head, he grimaced. "You shouldne do that to a slumbering Viking, very dangerous." he grinned. "If it were anyone else they would have been embedded into that there wall."

Cheeks flushing red with embarrassment a look of embarrassment crossed her face. "I am soooo sorry, I ... I... I did not mean to wake you."

"Ha, no problem lass, I was ...err... just grabbing a quick rest before me duties. I had a hard nights work last night."

Waving the Tankard, Astrid Grinned. "Gobber did ask me to return this to you, you must have left it."

"Och, you have got me. Even the chief has to let his hair down once in awhile, if ye know what I mean." Stoick rubbed his throbbing head. "I may of let too much of me hair down though last night though. Anyway what is it I can do ye for?"

"I actually came to see Hiccup, but I wished to show you this too. It is something amazing." Astrid handed the tankard to Stoick.

"Wha ye mean, It is only an old Tankard?"

"I understand Hiccup made it for you when he was younger?"

"Yes he was just a wee lad back then, useless with the dragons but he had talent with them tools." His mother would of been so proud. He made this for me on the third anniversary of; well you know his mother's passing."

"Wow, I did not realise it's importance, but I think it is even more important than that. It is what he has carved into it which is Amazing!"

"What the Berk crest, ahh that's easy..." Astrid Interrupted him

"When was the first time that ANYONE IN the village saw a Night Fury?"

"No one ever has, until Toothless that is, why?"

"Look at the dragon carved on the opposite side to the crest and tell me what you see" Excitement crossed her face.

Stoick grinned "Ahh just some dragons... everyone has seen ..." A look of astonishment crossed Stoick's face and his eyes widened. "By the power of Thor, is that a Night Fury?"

"I believe so, it kind of looks like the Berk Dragon Academy logo. Gobber told me that it has not been altered in any way. And look at its tail fin."

Stoick gasped. "It looks like from the angle of it, that it only has one fin, just like Toothless" He sat down.

"Now I call that a slight bit creepy. Either it has been altered by Hiccup, it has been changed or something strange is going on."

"Nay, it has not been, I keep it with me at all times, if it had been we would see the alterations. And this is definitely the same tankard as it has a knot in the wood shaped like a heart here you see."

"I need to speak to Hiccup, but I have not seen him this morning, maybe he can shed some light on this."

"Just go on up, he is not up yet, at least I have not heard him. They way him and Toothless bang around up there, It would wake Thor for all the noise."

"WHAT... mid morning... oh thunder of Thor, I have my duties to see to. Don't mind me while I get me gear on, And give Hiccup a piece of my mind for not waking up and letting me sleep in."

Astrid ascended the stairs, this was not like Hiccup, and it was not like Toothless either. For all his faults, promptness was one of Hiccups better traits. Even with Toothless's odd behaviour recently Hiccup was always up and about. Astrid was greeted with an empty room. She went over to Toothless's sleeping rock, with Toothless' powerful fire breath; usually it was still warm, even into the afternoon.

She looked round the room. It was tidy; no sign of any trouble, the bed was neat and looked like it had not even been slept in. His cherished notebook lay on the night stand. This worried her even more, as he always carried that thing with him. She flicked through the pages, just the usually pictures of dragons and sketches of Toothless, little Torch and even one of herself and Stormfly. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment for a second and she smiled to herself. She reached the last entry. Nothing gave a clue to his whereabouts.

She called down to Stoick. "Stoick, sir. He is not here." Stoick came running up the stairs. "It does not look like he has been here all night either."

"After the meal last night Hiccup went to bed, so I went back to Gobber's and regaled on tales of the past. When I came home I remember calling up to him but heard nothing, but then that's all I remember. I was a bit, worse for wear. Oh I thought he was asleep. What if he is in trouble?"

"I'm Sure there is some rational explanation, this is Hiccup, and he quite often makes rash decisions. I'm sure he is just out flying."

"Yeah that would be Hiccup alright. Unusual for him to do so at night without warning. He knows of the dangers. We must go out and find him." Although Stoick rarely showed emotion, Astrid could tell that he was worried.

"Don't Worry I'll get the academy to search, you just get on with your duties, We will find him in no time."

"Aye, I do have a lot to do this morning, especially now I am behind. But promise me, if you sense ANY trouble, you come and find me."

"Of course, we can do this, we owe it to Hiccup."

Stoick rubbed Astrid's shoulder. "I know you can, I can see why Hiccup likes you so much."

Astrid blushed as Stoick turned and walked down the stairs. Picking up Hiccups notebook, she rubbed it tenderly. "Hiccup, where are you?" whispering to herself. Looking up she noticed a small box open on his night stand. Hearing Stoick leave the house she walked over to the nightstand and picked it up, it was empty. "I wonder if this has something to do with his disappearance." Looking around more there was no other clue Astrid could find and left the house.

Stormfly looked at her expectantly, but the look on her riders face told the dragon all she needed to know. The dragon nuzzled up to her hoping to make her feel better. Astrid rubbed he cheek back. "I know you are worried girl, we all are. We will find them." The dragon cooed back at her. "Wait here for a sec I have to find the others."

Of all the dragon Academy members, she knew she could most reply on Fishlegs. Although not as fierce as the other teens, He would always be there for his friends and the dragons. Snotlout was probably the most brash of them but at times could not be trusted. Ruffnut and Tuffnut, well, were just Ruffnut and Tuffnut!

Reaching Fishlegs house Astrid was about to knock on the door but stopped upon hearing laughter. She put her ear to the door and heard Fishlegs giggling and a slurping sound. Astrid shuddered at the thought and opened the door. Shock crossed her face, and then turned to revulsion. She should of known better.

"Ew Fishlegs, seriously"

A scream could be heard followed by a loud thump as Fishlegs fell off his chair. "Erm... Astrid... morning... I was just having my err... morning foot bath..." Grabbing Meatlug he pulled himself up and hugged his Dragon. "Yes I was wasn't I?" Who's my good dragon...yes it's you..."

"FISHLEGS!" Shouted Astrid, "Please, I have just eaten."

"Well you were the one who just barged in without Knocking. I could of been having a bath or something."

"Fishlegs that is a vision I don't want to even imagine. I really do not know how you even get Meatlug to even do these things."

"No...I meant... Meatlug does not do..." Fishlegs blushed "Anyway, why barge in on us, what is so urgent, surely training can wait til later?"

"Hiccup and Toothless are missing. They did not come home last night."

"So they are probably out flying..."

"No it is unlike them, not to tell us anyway. He knows our rule, always let someone know when you go alone, after Alvin's escapades he knows the dangers." Astrid sighed. "And besides, flying on his own late at night, that's asking for trouble. We need to look for them."

Meatlug walked over to Astrid and rubbed her cheek up against her. "Ok, even Meatlug seems worried too. And when Meatlug is worried, I am worried. What do you need me to do?"

"Well you gather up the others I will grab some supplies, meet me and Stormfly at the Academy."

Fishlegs walked up to Astrid and put his hand on her shoulder. "You really care for him don't you?"

Her cheeks reddened "No... I mean yes... I care for them a lot; I care for the academy a lot."

"Well lets go." Fishlegs jumped on the Gronkle's back "Meatlug, let's find the others." The dragon grunted approval and flew through the door. Leaving the house she whistled to Stormfly. The Nadder flew over and allowed her to climb on.

It seemed like a long flight over to the Academy arena. Usually she enjoyed the wind in her hair. But she was worried. As usual Fishlegs was right. She cared a lot for Hiccup. He had been the one who had changed her life, and now had her beautiful dragon. She could not imagine what Hiccup had been going through with Toothless on the last few weeks. What if it ever happened to her, What if Stormfly grew tired of her? No other dragon she had come across could fill the space left by Stormfly. She was one in a million.

Astrid knew a load of Nadders, but this one was different, Stormfly for instance flew almost as fast as a Night Fury, and sometimes Astrid swore she even had some of their mannerisms too and often wondered what had happened in the past to make her so unique. Stormfly seemed to be more comfortable hanging around with Toothless than other Nadders at times, which was strange. Had she encountered Night Furies before, were they more common than they are now?

So many questions Astrid had of her dragon and of the other dragons too. She did not know how they could be answered. Although felt that communication with dragons was possible to a degree, the proof being that she could command Stormfly to do what was needed, and also at times felt that Stormfly also had command over her.

Only one person seemed to have commanded communication better than anyone, and that was Hiccup. Astrid envied their relationship to a degree but also thought it beautiful. A human and a dragon so closely connected that they could function as one. Astrid had to help them the best she could.

Landing in the middle of the academy arena, it seemed so quiet. As of late there was usually some kind of activity during the day as they all enjoyed learning more about dragons. She especially enjoyed when the young children came over to gaze in awe at the dragons and learn about them, knowing they would take up the mantle one day and would be their legacy. Astrid's thoughts were abruptly shattered when she heard a voice behind her.

"Yet again it falls to me to save the day. Why do I have to even bother keep rescuing them? Surely if he was _so_ good Hiccup would be able to get himself out of these situations. I know I would. That's why the ladies love me!"

Astrid whirled round "SNOTLOUT, I cannot think of ONE time that you single handedly rescued anyone, without needing help yourself of course. Hiccup may be in danger and as his friends we may need to help him, as he would do and HAS done on many occasions."

"If you say so, and besides he is not my friend. What has he ever done for ME or Hookfang" Hookfang rolled his eyes.

Astrid shot a glare at Snotlout. "They have done a lot for you. If it was not for Hiccup, you would not have a dragon. All you know and love would probably not be here. He would not of trained Hookfang, and probably without him Hookfang would of eaten you by now, I know I would." Hookfang grinned to himself

"Heh heh, that I would like to see." shouted Tuffnut as he came into land with Ruffnut on the Zippleback.

Ruffnut grinned "Yeah and we can feed Hookfang you as desert"

"Yeah, awesome... wait" Tuffnut scratched his head in confusion.

"Well I'm... NOT... going" protested Snotlout sitting on the back of his Monstrous Nightmare stubbornly crossing his arms.

"You are, unless you want a punch in the face." shouted Astrid

"Guys, do we have to do this every time. We have bigger things to think about."

"Stay out of this Fishlegs." shouted Snotlout "I have better things to do, come along Hookfang." Hookfang stayed put. "Hookfang..." The monstrous nightmare looked back at him and growled. "Hey, you listen to me Hookfang. I give the orders here...YEAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Hookfang again grinned as he flamed up. Snotlout jumped off and sprinted to the water trough and sat in it.

"I guess Hookfang has made the decision for you." Smirked Astrid. As the other laughed at Snotlout.

"Guys, it's getting late, we better make a move." as Fishlegs took off.

"You owe me Hookfang!" Snotlout whispered to his dragon through gritted teeth as he got back on. Hookfang threatened to flare up again. "OK OK, you win." he shrieked

"It is so awesome when he does that Snotlout, do you train him to set you on fire... heh heh." teased Ruffnut.

"Go swallow a rock." Snotlout made a rude gesture to the laughing twins.

"But we haven't got any..." replied Tuffnut, again with a confused look.

"GUYS... COME ON!" Shouted Astrid who was hovering on Stormfly in the entrance with Fishlegs on Meatlug. "Remind me Fishlegs, why did I invite them."

"Because, no matter how they act, they are good at what they do. We need their help."

"Yeah, I know. You are a good friend to have around you know, Fishlegs. I am so glad you are part of the Academy." Fishlegs blushed.

Astrid flew ahead of the group and turned round to face them. "OK group. Here's what we are going to do. I will search around the village area and the forests around raven point. Fishlegs you take the opposite side of the island. Ruff & Tuff, you take the islands to the north and west. Snotlout the islands to the South and east. Meet back at the village even if you do not find anything, we will then spread out further if needed."

"Why does he get the south east? I wanted the south east; he always gets what he wants."

"Tuffnut, Just do as I say, the quicker we search the quicker we get back. The islands to the North are full of cliffs and cracks, the two of you make for more eyes so it would be easier. You have eight eyes"

"But... I only have two, and he only has two..." replied Ruffnut.

Astrid facepalmed."For the love of Odin... YOUR DRAGON also has two pairs of eyes...Now just go... Please! Even Stormfly is getting annoyed" Stormfly raised her tail spikes menacingly.

"OK OK, we are going."

"They are good at what they do!" Fishlegs grinned, Astrid just laughed to herself as she flew off in the direction of Raven Point.

Darting trough the trees she looked for any sign of anything out of place. Flying through the woods was something that Hiccup, Toothless and herself and Stormfly did often, and something they all seemed to enjoy. Stormfly had always seemed to be confident in following Toothless's lead and matched his manoeuvres perfectly. Astrid could now see that Stormfly had learned a lot, and sensed that Toothless had been teaching her all along. For now she glided through the trees with grace and stealth just like a Night Fury.

They flew back across the village and round and up towards Mildew's house. A thought came to her, what if Mildew had something to do with this. She landed on a spot overlooking the house and watched. Nothing out of the ordinary here. Mildew just seemed to be quietly tending to his cabbages with that sheep at his side. Well at least he was not complaining for once. Mildew then looked up and glared at them, hate in his eyes. Astrid took off and flew east back towards the forest again. That would probably set Mildew off on another complaint. She would be hearing from Stoick later she just knew it.

Astrid flew to a few special places they had been when they wanted to train alone. Without the interference of the other teens. Kind of hoping that Hiccup was waiting for her. Alas he was not at any of the usual places, not even crashed and injured. They flew on and she spotted something. Astrid signalled to Stormfly to land and jumped off, looking about in wonder. She remembered this area. The rocky outcroppings on the floor, chasing Hiccup through the trees pretending they could fly like dragons. Her mind wandered back to a day, long forgotten, when she had pushed Hiccup and he fell down one of these rocks. She scrambled down the rock and smiled to herself at the memories. Something caught her eye. A small black disk. Bending down to pick it up another memory came to her. Hiccup had given her one of these when she was a child. Found in the same spot. He kept one and gave one to her as a sign on their friendship.

A tear ran down Astrid's cheek. She spoke softly to herself. "Oh Hiccup. I'm so sorry. Why did I do that to you? We were friends and I turned my back on you." She didn't remember if she still had that small but important gift and a feeling of Guilt flushed over her. Even though she had no idea what the small disk was, it seemed like the most precious thing to her at the time. Astrid tried to remember what she had done with it, a gift so precious would of been put in a safe place. A place where she kept her other precious belongings so no-one would touch them. That was it, her box on her night stand, she had put it in there, she hoped that it was still there, partly due to its meaning, and party that if it was; it had been so close to her all along.

Looking down now at that small disk Astrid decided to leave it where it was. Maybe someone else would find it in future and it would be special to them. All that mattered now was to find Hiccup and Toothless; she could worry about finding that gift when she got back. Maybe she had been wrong in looking for a place that was special to them. Maybe Hiccup was still hurting and had gone to a place that was special to only himself, or perhaps himself and Toothless. She ran back to Stormfly and jumped on. She knew of one place, for it was the place where She herself had first met Toothless. It was a place Hiccup had learned how to train a dragon.

Taking off Astrid couldn't believe she had not thought to look there, though it would of been expected he would of come home by now, doubt again crept into her head. Hiccup spent a lot of time there, what If he had become hurt and couldn't fly Toothless out of there. Then again Toothless had managed to fly out on his own once in the past, and surely if it was an emergency Toothless would try over and over until he succeeded, if Toothless was injured Hiccup would of come for help. It did not add up. Maybe he was not there or what if they were both hurt.

Flying towards the cove seemed like an eternity, even though It was a short distance from where they were. Even though Stormfly was darting though the trees with the agility of a much smaller dragon it seemed like slow motion. Astrid thought back to her childhood and how alone Hiccup must of felt when she had turned her back on him. She hoped he was not feeling alone now. In a way she hoped he was not there, if he was it probably meant something bad had happened to be so close to the village.

A shriek from Stormfly brought her out of her thoughts just as started to dive. Then she saw him. Toothless was motionless on the ground. There was no sight of Hiccup. A feeling of dread run through her. Stormfly let out a low mournful call and pushed herself faster towards the ground. The landing was hard but as soon as they hit the ground Astrid leapt off her dragons back and ran towards the motionless Night Fury, with Stormfly not far behind.

"Oh Odin, what has happened" she screamed as she ran. "Please no..." Again Stormfly gave a mournful wail. Toothless stirred just as Astrid reached him. "Toothless, what's happened?" The dragon opened his eyes with a start and looked up at Astrid and Stormfly. Astrid gently rubbed the Night Fury's cheek. "Are you hurt? Is Hiccup Ok? Where is He?" Stormfly bent down and gently Nuzzled Toothless.

The dragon just stared back at them looking confused. Stormfly made a few grunting sounds at Toothless. A grin seemed to spread across his face. Stormfly shot back a questioning look at him to which Toothless made a few sounds back in response. A look of relief crossed the Nadder's face followed by a look of annoyance. Astrid just looked more confused. "Err what is going on here? Where is Hiccup?"

Toothless seemed to grin again, and lifted his wing to reveal Hiccup. Astrid ran in and cupped Hiccups face in her hands. "Hiccup are you OK?"

Hiccup jumped up with a start. "Yeaaahh... err... ok... where am I?"

A look of crossed Astrid's face. "YOU...WERE...ASLEEP? Thor's Thunder. All this time you were just dozing away in the sun WHILE WE WERE ALL LOOKING FOR YOU!"

In his sleepiness Hiccup looked even more confused. "Ok I remember now I am in the cove..."

"Yes you are, and you better have a good explanation, you have been gone all night and most of today. And not even the courtesy to let me know!"

"WHAT, what time is it?" Hiccup jumped up and dusted himself down.

"Oh well let's just say it is late afternoon. And we have spent the last couple of hours looking for you. We should of been training."

"Oh gosh, I am soooooo sorry. I err... wasn't supposed to err, be here still."

"Well I'm listening? Why are you out here?"

"Well it is a long story, and imp still kind of tired...I would rather just fly back to the village and then I'll fill you in." The angry glare from Astrid made him think otherwise. "Or I could just tell you now."

"This BETTER be good."

"Err, I already apologised, I am sorry, why the fuss I have been away before...Oh...You were worried about us?"

"Err no; well yes I worry about the team all the time. And you go gallivanting around the woods without so much as a word...without the common decency to..." Astrid's words trailed off in surprise.

Releasing the hug Hiccup tenderly squeezed her shoulders and held on to them as he looked into her eyes. "Like I said I am sorry." His voiced started to choke up. "It means a lot to me, well to Toothless too that you have our backs." a tear fell down Hiccups cheek.

"Hiccup what's wrong?"

"I just had to come and see her, and I have found something amazing."

"See who Hiccup?"

"Dagna, my sister. She was laid to rest here, in this cove."

"Oh Hiccup, why didn't you say anything? I would of been here with you." She tenderly wiped the tear from his cheek. "I thought we were not to speak of the dead?"

"I didn't know I would be coming here until last night. But something amazing has happened. And Dagna is the key. She is the reason."

"As was decreed by your own father, it was not meant to be." Astrid frowned in confusion. "I do not follow you, HOW is she the reason, the reason for what?"

"Exactly. But I think she was not meant to be, for a reason. Where Are we now?"

"We are in the cove, why?

"Where do us Vikings usually bury the dead?"

"A ship burial usually. What has it got to do with anything?"

"Well why was Dagna buried here, in this cove, the very cove I met Toothless. My father could not explain why he wanted her here; he just said it came to him as a suitable place. She was the only one of our kind that we know of not to have a traditional ship burial"

"Surely this is just coincidence? Maybe there were no ships available after a dragon attack or something."

"No A ship is usually built for the purpose if the person has not owned or commanded one. It's not the only thing. As part of my own goodbye I left an offering. A carving into a rock. A carving I done especially for the purpose."

Astrid's eyes widened. "Go on"

"Well it is something that no Viking had ever seen..." Astrid suddenly looked weak and sat down.

"Astrid are you OK?"

"A Night fury!"

"Err... yes, How did you know?"

"Because it is not the only one you did. You carved one into your father's tankard too. I found it earlier. Missing a tail fin."

"What? Yes he carving on the stone was missing its tail fin; I did not get a chance to finish it."

"The tankard was too. You drew Toothless!"

"Yes. So that's why I think Dagna passed on. Maybe it was destiny, that she had to step aside so I would fulfil mine.

"By Odin's beard. This is so strange."

"Oh I almost forgot there was one more thing. You will not remember." Hiccup fished in his pocket and pulled out the black disk." When we were young I remember us running through the woods and we found 2 black disks. One I gave to you and this one I kept. I doubt you even have yours anymore."

"Yes I remember them. I have mine in a box by my bed, but what has it go to do with any of this?"

"Watch!" Hiccup beckoned toothless over. "Toothless, come here bud." Hiccup placed the disk and aligned it to the old scar on the Night Fury's side."

Astrid gasped loudly. "By the power of Thor, They are Toothless's scales. And we had them all along."

"Yes, you see another thing..."

"Your paths have crossed before, you must of somehow seen him in the past and not realised, and that's why you were able to draw him."

"Yeah, even Toothless looked confused when I told him."

"Odin must have some big plans for the both of you, for him to set all this in motion in order for you to meet. I must find that other disk, come on..."

They flew as fast as they could back to the village. They were greeted by an Angry Stoick and an even Angrier Mildew. Stoick signalled them to land.

"There they are Stoick. I told you. They have been spying on me. Hiccup has not been in the village for awhile and I caught this lass earlier hiding in the rocks above my home watching my every more. And here they come back together." Mildew glared at the two.

Stoick looked annoyed. "Well I hope you have a good explanation for this."

"I was not spying on anyone; I was trying to find Hiccup. And besides I have better things to do than watch him."

"It's true dad, I was at the cove I need to talk to you about it but we have got to get going, something VERY important."

A look of thunder crossed Stoick's Face. "No son, you will speak to me now." Mildew grinned in glee. "Mildew, Why are you still here? I will deal with this." With an annoyed grumble Mildew sloped off. "You lot cannot keep annoying that old Man. I have enough to deal with without his constant complaining, and yet again he finds reason to waste yet more time."

"Dad, I am not lying, this is something very important. I need to do this now; I will come back and explain..."

"And you missy, what do you have to say for yourself?"

"I just landed for a few seconds on the cliff above Mildew's house for Stormfly to catch breath. But Hiccup is telling the truth this IS important, we just need to gather more information before we present it to you and possibly the council."

"The council? Well it must be important. But I expect to see you BOTH tonight without fail. Am I making myself clear?"

"Very dad!" Hiccup said sarcastically.

"Good, I'll see you tonight then." Stoick marched away.

"Why did you say we would involve the council?" Hiccup looked worried.

"Well this is important, and besides it got him off our backs for now."

"Well... yes... come on... lets find that other scale."

They quickly flew over to Astrid's house and entered. Astrid's mother was cooking over the fire. And greeted them with her usual cheer. "Ahh hallo Hiccup, you come to stay for dinner?"

"Hello, err... not tonight, got to go see my Dad!"

"How is Stoick, I have not had a chance to speak with him lately. Well not much since, well you know."

"He is OK. Busy as usual."

"Mind he not been the same since your mother left us, Odin bless her soul."

"Yeah, but the dragons are sure helping."

"That they are young Hiccup. Where would we be without you?" Hiccup blushed a deep red. "And I know our Astrid sure loves your company." It was now Astrid's turn to blush.

"Mother, please, we have stuff to do."

"Suit yourself dear." As she went back to cooking.

Astrid ran to her night stand. Cursing she remembered her accident this morning, all the stuff was knocked over or over the floor. She searched for the small box which hopefully contained the small disk. It was not there. She stamped her foot in frustration.

Hiccup came over "is everything OK?"

"I can't find it, I cannot find the box. I knocked everything over this morning and now it's not here!"

"Calm down, we will find it, it probably rolled somewhere across the floor."

"I have looked round but its nowhere to be seen" Astrid was on the verge of crying. "I'm so sorry Hiccup. I promised you I would keep it safe. Yet again I have let you down."

"Hey come on now, You have not let anyone down. Hey without you where would I be?"

"But I have been so mean to you over the last few years. And now I lose the most precious gift of our early friendship."

"Do not worry it will be here, how about behind the stand, you looked there?

"No, and it cannot be moved anyway."

"Well I will look and if something is there we will figure it out." Hiccup scrambled over the night stand to peer down the back. "Pass me the candle it's dark down there." Grabbing the candle he fumbled around the back."I can see something; I can just about reach it... almost... GOT IT!" Hiccup pulled out a small carved figure of a Viking. "What is this?"

"Oh...ere...nothing, just a doll..."

"Hmm Its a doll with a false leg and my riding shoulders." Astrid flushed bright red.

Smiling, Hiccup went back to searching the gap behind the night stand. "Is it a small wooden box with a dragon on it?"

"Yes that's the one."

"I can' reach it. Have you got something to poke down there to pull it out?"

"Err not to hand!"

"Ahh I have an Idea." Hiccup detached his false leg and poked it about. "Ah... got it!"

Astrid burst out laughing. "Oh my Odin... that was one of the funniest things I ever seen."

"Did you not know it's rude to laugh at someone's injury milady? But I have to admit, that is pretty funny."

"I sorry, but it's not every day you have someone poke about behind your nightstand with their leg. Just give me the box."

Astrid rummaged around the box until she found what she was looking for. An object wrapped in parchment paper. Carefully unwrapping it struck her how beautiful it was. Much more beautiful than she remembered. The disk seemed much more iridescent than the one Hiccup had. Beautiful colours as she moved it back and forward in the light.

"Hiccup Bring your disk over, let's compare them."

"Your one is different. Mine is duller with this scar through it.

"Yes it's a bit smaller and has these colours when you move it into the light. Much more than your one.

"It must be from a different part of Toothless's body, we have to show him."

Running outside Astrid ran over to Toothless with the disk."Toothless we have another of your scales; we found this one the same time as the other. Let us look for where It could of come from." Toothless immediately stood up to allow them to search for it.

"Hmm I do not see where this one could go, I cannot see anywhere with this type of patterning, maybe he only had it was when he would younger." Hiccup looked puzzled. "Show it to Toothless."

Astrid brought the disk so Toothless could have a look at it. As he inspected it his eyes widened slightly. Taking a closer look he then sniffed it. A look of shock filled his face. He let out a mournful cry.

"Toothless what is wrong bud?" A look of pure sadness crossed the Night Fury's face. He let out a pained moan, which brought Stormfly running over. The Nadder gently Nuzzled Toothless. They exchanged what seemed like to Astrid and Hiccup as words in whatever tongue the dragons spoke with each other. A look of shock and then sadness then crossed Stormfly's eyes and she gently laid beside Toothless.

"I do not think this is Toothless's Scale Astrid. I think this is from another Night Fury, What if it is his family, or even his mate.

"Yeah and it cannot be good judging by Stormfly's reaction, she looks sad too. Looks like Toothless has lost someone he has cared for too.

"Toothless bud, is this scale from a Night fury you know, is it someone you cared for, was it your mate?" Toothless gave him a sad look and a low moan. "Has she, you know, passed on?" Toothless looked to the ground and a tear ran down his cheek. "Oh Toothless bud, I am so sorry." Hiccup hugged the night fury tenderly. Stormfly gave a low moan and looked sad.

"This is sad news girl. To think that all this time we did not even know." A tear ran down Astrid's cheek too." Stormfly got up and nuzzled Astrid knocking the scale out of her hand. It gleamed in the sun and caught Stormfly's eye. A look of curiosity crossed her face. She sniffed at the scale. Her eyes widened in shock. And she let out a cry which made both Toothless look up at her in shock.

"What is wrong Stormfly?" She nuzzled at the scale and let out another mournful cry.

Hiccup looked shocked. "It looks like Stormfly knew Toothless's mate too."

Toothless though his tears looked up at Stormfly with a questioning glance. Stormfly looked back and made some sounds to which Toothless's eyes widened. Toothless walked up to Stormfly and nuzzled up against her tenderly. And they cried together, for this dragon scale was Nit'zenga's.

:: END OF CHAPTER FIVE ::


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